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Great Dec Day


infocalypse1

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Decided to take the family to Calvert Cliffs since the weather looked great, high in the mid 50s, low tide at ~10AM and a west wind. We weren't disappointed. The tide was as low as I've ever seen it there, with exposed sand bars 100 yards out. We were the only fols there until about noon. Not many shark teeth (a dozen small, mostly hemis and a couple of makos) but the shell collecting was as good as I've seen in a long time. Lots of fresh cliff falls to pick through, and the recent freeze and thaws made it easy to pick thru. Got many ecphoras, various snails, and a pile of other species including entire geoducks. A good time was had by all, although hauling a drywall bucket full of stuff did get kinda old.

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Hauling a five gallon bucket for the whole family got heavy i bet, hope you were not very far from the car.

It definitely was a nice day to be out collecting.

Please post some Pictures, everyone likes them, I would like to see some pics of the collecting area.

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I will post some pics as soon as I finish cleaning off some of the excess grunge. Cleaned a bunch up today. Will take pics as soon as they're dry.

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photos attached. The whole panopeas are the first I've ever found intact. I don't plan on removing the matrix from the inside; it's nicer to look at and it holds the shell together. I try to collect intact shells of bivalves whenever possible. The moon shells were found in a group in the cliff fall pile. That has been the pattern in the past. Shark teeth are OK, nothing special, but we weren't focusing on teeth.

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What a Miocene clam bake; the complete Chesapectin is wonderful!

The popularity of shark's teeth so overshadow the shells; I'm happy we have a couple members who value, collect, and post them. Maybe, with some of the information making its way onto the Forum, more will pay attention to these ephemeral beauties.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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I've got a lot more mollusk species, including a bunch from Aurora that aren't seen in MD. If there is interest I can post pics and species names.

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re location, started at Matoaka and went north ~1 mile to the cliffs just north of Kenwood Beach. That's the best pickings in that vicinity. Matoaka used to be very good right at the cottages 10 years ago, but the combo of erosion and beach stabilization has resulted in a wide beach with very little fossil content.

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Great finds. You are right about the North end there. I've never actually collected at Matoaka. Looks like you found some pieces of sand dollar. There is a fall along where you walked that has produced some nice whole ones. Great bi-valves. The largest one in the second picture, Chesacardium...those things are hard to find without being full of cracks and broken apart.

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I've got a lot more mollusk species, including a bunch from Aurora that aren't seen in MD. If there is interest I can post pics and species names.

Yes please!

The Forum is my surrogate for a vast and varied collection. Due to lack resources (such as time and space), my collection and field of study is rather specialized, but I love fossils! The richer and more diverse the postings, the better. :)

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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The beach this time of year you Ba$$, why don't you rub it in :D:D:D

up here we get four hours of sun if we are lucky and then it my be - 15 c:

But still I hope you have good hunting and don't get to cold :)

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Guest bmorefossil
The beach this time of year you Ba$$, why don't you rub it in :D:D:D

up here we get four hours of sun if we are lucky and then it my be - 15 c:

But still I hope you have good hunting and don't get to cold :)

hey its cold here, just not that cold, sometimes you have to break ice to get to the fossils.

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On the morning of January 2, 2+ hours due South of Matoaka, I had to use a screwdriver to pry teeth out of the frozen sand in the high tide zone during low tide... Ain't it fun?

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Kevin Wilson

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Guest bmorefossil
On the morning of January 2, 2+ hours due South of Matoaka, I had to use a screwdriver to pry teeth out of the frozen sand in the high tide zone during low tide... Ain't it fun?

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

Sometimes when im alone on the beach I mark the stuff and come back when it gets warm, but if its anything important ill dig that thing out!

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