2021 has been an interesting year to say the least, especially the weather! The first of the Summer season has been a mild and wet one. Now that July closed for 2021, the heat is cranking up and holding in the low to high 90's and that is hot! Does this hot weather discourage a fossil collector, um I don't think so! Where will the next destination be as July 2021 closes out. Presently as I write this, It's been a slow two weeks and I'm ready for some fossil therapy! Our next trip takes us into the Black Belt in South Alabama.
From what I've learned so far most of the waterways there contain a good bit of marine fossils! You just got to know where to look? One of the things fossil hunters are mindful of is that every piece of land you set your foot on is owned by someone or some entity. With that said, a lot of research is involved. The ground is part of a geological formation and it helps to research what it is and what it produces. Next you got to find out who owns that tract of land you are looking over. My research comes from viewing satellite maps of the terrain? Finding the owners can be a difficult task and with a lil' luck and perseverance it can pay off? The main obstacle would be liability issues and from experience most property owners will not let you access their property at all! Understanding this you just move on. One thing I might add is it is an unwritten rule that if you get access, you do not reveal where this site is or whom gave you permission. We arrived at the owners' residence and after chatting with them we invited he and his son to come join us. He guided us through one of his many pastures that has access to the creek we wanted to go to. Once we got our gear together and stepped onto the creek, one of my buddies and I found a gravel bar in the middle of the waterway and guided them to it and started sifting away.
Pictured: Scapanorynhus (Goblin Shark) Hybodont tooth, Squalicorax (Crow Shark), Protolamna, and Ptychodus tooth
Right off the bat we were finding teeth and the lil' boy was so excited and getting into it! The father was doing the same and told us that all his life he has lived in and worked in the area, this is the first time he'd been down and didn't know all this was in his creek! He and his lil' boy hung with us throughout most of the day finding some beautiful teeth! The lil' boy was excited, he told us that when he got back to school he was going to give some of the teeth to his buddies. It's these kind of trips where we make the owners our new friends and most of all introduce them our hobby that makes these fossil trips worthwhile and memorable!
Pictured: Ammonite and Baculite segments, Brachiopod Steinkerns, Turtle Shell and bone fragments, Native American Jasper bird point.
It was a very productive day and turned out to be a gorgeous day at that! It was hot but we had the canopy of trees that lined the creek bank for shade and the water was just as refreshing even though it was muddy and the levels were a lil' higher than usual. I had to do one last sift before we ended the day, and on that last sift I came across a native bird point made out of Jasper, such a pretty red rock! That ended my day on a high note and look forward to going back to this location soon!
Pictured: Assortment of Scapanorychnus teeth (Goblin Shark), Assortment of Cretalamna Shark teeth, Sawfish teeth, (left) Hydrodus priscus fish tooth, (right) Sawfish rostral tooth, Squalicorx (Crow Shark) and Puesdocorax teeth, Hybodont teeth, Fish vertebrate, Pyncnodont fish teeth, Ray teeth, Enchodus fish teeth and Calcified Brachiopod Steinkerns.
Now that I brought back micro material to sift through I seem to be finding more teeth and other interesting fossils, in addition to the previous bigger ones found. The only difference is these are tinier and easy to store! One thing is certain, not only can I continue the sifting when off the creek, it gives me something to do on rainy day and you can't trade that for anything! Love, love my micro material!
Very nice blog entry and fossil photos!