Just as the sound of the bell signals the closing of the market day, so too does a more figurative bell signal the time to down tools and take stock in the collecting season that was. And now here I am, putting my tools and kit away in the spare room so that they no longer clutter the dining room to my wife’s frustration — well, I’m getting around to it at any rate! It is a time to put away the tools and rocks in their proper places and brace for winter’s frosty hold. It is of course customary to start the planning process all over again for the next season, dreaming big with all that open time and possibility ahead of us, that blank canvass of the calendar for what may come when next we raise hammers again. And, indeed, winter is a time to organize and curate the finds, to prepare those specimens, to draw, to deep dive into research with a goal of directing the next season’s tireless hunt. Yet, the season’s closing is first and foremost a time of reflection, casting the memory backward into the season that was. The season for me never lives up to what I had hoped for, yet it always seems to yield up so much more than I could ever have expected. This year was no different. Much blood and treasure went into this season, and like the Rolling Stones lyric goes, “you can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.” So many failures, disappointments and misadventures dotted the season and yet — and yet! — it has been a spectacularly memorable season. I added 22 new species of trilobite to the collection, 13 of which were new field finds (the rest purchased or gifted). I encountered 45 distinct species of trilobite spanning over 40 days in the field, matching if not exceeding my incredible 2020 season when we were under Covid lockdown. I acquired new specimens most collectors may never have an opportunity to possess. I did not, however, succeed in finding anything new to science, which remains a shining goal. I traveled the equivalent of a quarter of the earth’s circumference. I went deep and far, tight and local, and got to delight in spending time with so many incredible field comrades, too. I am saddened that I have to be unbearably circumspect about where I went; it wasn’t always like this. Now it is time to sum up the season in my usual way, showing the best finds, preps, purchases, and even doodles (which I need to go back to in a serious way this winter). TRIPsI can be pardoned for many omissions in this public report, although everything is logged in my field notebook. My season began on March 26th when I ventured to a local ditch by a new housing development. Oddly enough, the first trilobite encountered in the field that day was Ordovician on account of some big retaining wall blocks imported from the Gull River Fm, and so pieces of Isotelus were scattered here and there in mostly the gastropod-littered rock with its deep forest green glauconite mineral replacement. By early April, my semester was winding down and I made some further local visits, and one ride-along with a friend to inspect a gravel pit that turned out to be mostly Devonian trash salad. And yet we did find a few old slabs of Craigleith shale at an abandoned property that we took back to my place and split. The first Devonian bugs were all moulted fragments of the usual proetids around these parts, but some nice Pseudogygites hash plates were pretty fun. A few more local site visits until I boarded the first of many trains, circa mid-April, to a Devonian spot about an hour east, which saw me encounter parts of three more trilobites, bringing my season tally to a dozen. I bumped into a piece of my old friend Terataspis again by close to April’s end, in a local stormwater management pond, but it would not be long after that when I would have to temporarily swap the tools for the lectern for my standard week-long grad course on strategic planning. Train trip #2 would be a whiplash tour through Ottawa and eventually Quebec City. I would leave the very next day my class ended to meet up that evening with an old poet friend’s son who had asked me to read and critique a draft of his novel. A fun night was had at my favourite punk rock tavern, but I had to be up early the next morning to see about a site on the far west of the city. The site turned out to be lacklustre with very scrappy material. On the following day, I made my way to a shale dump that was surprisingly rich in pyritized Triarthrus rougensis and ridiculous loads of nautiloids and graptolite beds. I even found some pyritized sponges which are destined to be donated to a museum in Montreal. And then it was all aboard the next train to Quebec City to collect with my dear fossil comrade. At this point, I had added five more trilobite encounters to the season’s list, bringing me up to 18. About four distinct locations were hunted in the Quebec City area, including an area replete with occasional beds of white mineral replaced Cryptolithus moults. The usual suspects of Ceraurus pleurexanthemus and Flexicalymene senaria were found, but nothing I would qualify as A-grade. We also discovered a new spot that had parts of Meadowtownella sp., but they were sparse in very ugly material. There was still ample material collected thus far, which meant I had to leave some surplus with my friend to mail back to my house — keeping in mind I was living entirely out of my already heavy field pack and duffel bag. As there were no trains going all the way west from Quebec City to London in the same day, I booked an overnighter motel and returned to my shale dump for one last poke before boarding the homebound train. All told, it was 11 days away from home and I missed wifey and kitten, and desperately needed a shave. June was a relatively quiet month. I did board the train a third time, but for work purposes in running a facilitation session for Brampton council. Zero collecting to be had around there. We had already planned to do a short visit to see Deb’s auntie up around Barrie/Collingwood way, and that gave me the opportunity to do a 3/4 day poking around a road cut. Unlike the last time I went there in the autumn on the way back from Temiskaming, the only complete trilobite found was a Flexi roller. The material was Cobourg Fm equivalent, but not the more stunning examples as may be found in the south. Still, three more trilobite species encountered to bring the season tally to 24. The remaining days of the month saw me do some local site visits, and eventually board the train for the fourth time back for another day trip to my eastern Devonian prospect. I then did one recon prospect that turned out to be nothing. July is usually the lull in my season, so apart from two local stops, most of it was dedicated to logistics planning for an August adventure. And what an interesting August trip that was that saw me away from home for 20 days. Train ride #5 saw me go to Quebec City again and then off on perhaps one of the most memorable adventures filled with every conceivable bit of bad luck one can imagine, yet we earned our stripes and still came back with goodies. It could be said that this was the most productive trip for trilobite encounters, adding nine more to the season tally, eight of which were new to my collection. Of course, I came back feeling a bit broken, and 20 days felt like 200. It was good to be home. By month’s end and the beginning of the fall semester nigh, I was visited by two US fossil comrades. We had plenty of laughs and fun, and they wanted to see the famous Arkona. On the following day, we did the longer drive to Formosa Reef where we found the usual fauna, and I was able to add two more trilobite species encounters to bring season tally to 35. By September, teaching was in full swing, so not a lot of hammer work was done. I did one desultory tour of local spots, finding just one sad fragment of a proetid. Usually at this time of year the weather is still a bit too hot, but also infested with yellow jacket wasps recently kicked out of their hives and acting crazy. Near month’s end, I did one other local stormwater pond spot and found the usual Bois Blanc Fm examples, including a rather sad piece of Terataspis. October is generally one of the best months for collecting. Weather has cooled down a bit, and the flora has thinned out a bit more to make for easier seeing and navigating. Given where we park Thanksgiving so early up here in Canada, that effectively granted me a four day weekend to board the train a sixth time to venture east to a spot in the Ordovician of Ontario. I had visited this site back in late May 2022. I was not expecting great riches, but then was completely surprised with all the finds that added six trilobite encounters, two of which were new to the collection (Raymondites longispinus, “Xylabion” Ceraurinella sp.), bringing my season tally to 41. Closer to month’s end, a few local spots that yielded much of the same. And then with Reading Week, I took the opportunity to board a train a seventh time to return to my eastern Ontario spot only to get partially skunked despite that Hibbertia find, and then back out to Quebec City to see my friend a third time this year. Sadly, winter had been an early visitor, which curtailed our collecting to a single half day. I returned home only partially victorious after a week’s absence, my pack a bit lighter than I would have liked. That brings me to November when I did do a local ditch spot for not much of any gain. I then did a day outing with my dear fossil friend Matt to some Devonian spots outside of the city to close out the season. [more here] It is always a bittersweet occasion to finally put the tools to bed, but eventually one runs out of runway — or, more specifically, warm days in which to get out in the field without it being very uncomfortable. My usual cut-off is around 5 celsius for a day high; anything lower than that results in cold hands (even in work gloves) and impaired vision trying to strain to see in the colder air. Much less daylight hours and the imminent threat of snow means each day is a throw of the dice, and eventually there are more losers than winners as far as collecting days are concerned. I ended the season today, November 19th. We did the very last place on our list in the Bois Blanc Fm in search of Terataspis and we got skunked. As disappointing as that may sound, I am no longer left wondering and we did our due diligence. Steadily over three years we crossed sites off the list. is the hunt over? No way. This is when we start getting creative and expansive in our search, embracing the prospector’s way of life in more adventurous ways. Bittersweet as ending the season with a whimper and not a bang may be, at least now we know, and it completed our long list. In all, the 2023 season ran 238 days, from March 26th to November 19th, out of which I saw 43 days of field action. This has been a very good and interesting year. My regrets are minor when stacked against the experiences had. FINDS & AcquisitionsThe lucky 13 added to the list are not all complete, of course, but no less welcome to the growing collection. It wasn’t until August that I bagged the first new find for the collection. I didn’t take out the credit card so much on purchases this year as I seemed to have spent more on travel for field collecting. Still, I grabbed a few, and was gifted a few others, giving me 9. Here is a list of all 22 trilobites added to the collection, either by field or purchase or gift: Thysanopeltis sp. Hoekaspis yahuari Damesella paronai Ciliscutellum ciliensis Anacheirurus sp. Kettneraspis sp. (Bolivia) Ceraurinus icarus Acernaspis orestes Diacalymene schucherti Stenopareia grandis Arctinurus anticostiensis Failleana wangi Illaenus bayfieldi Isotelus harrisi Raymondites longispinus “Xylabion” (Ceraurinella n.sp.) Hibbertia ottawaensis Bumastoides bellevillensis Triarthrus sp. Redlichia sp. Wanneria sp. Synphoria stemmata Only five of the trilobite species new to my field collecting were complete. I did have some luck finding complete specimens of trilobites that were already logged from previous years, so it was a good haul. A selection of a few new acquisitions here: PREpSI had a lot of bad luck at the bench this year when two of my only scribes crapped out. I was able to purchase two others, which did save the day. My abrasive unit is still crappy and temperamental until I can upgrade to a Swam, COMCO, or equivalent. What started with not much great material to work on in the winter then eased into not being at the bench very much due to active collecting. There are a number of preps on the go, yet not complete, but eventually I'll post them over the next while. DoodlesI simply did not put enough time at the table this year, and yet I have a long queue of bugs to draw. I hope to nurture those ambitions in our colder months when work allows. ResearchI do likely have some new material for research, but the nub of it is that there are just not that many researchers in this niche part of the world. In trilobites of Ontario and Quebec, we have longstanding housekeeping issues that need to be worked out, but that is a question of bodies, interest, and funding. How long will we be stuck with Isotelus “mafritzae” or assuming our Ceraurus pleurexanthemus is identical to that found in Quebec and Rust Walcott when they are clearly different? How about cleaning up our cheirurids, or revisiting our long neglected Devonian trilobites of Ontario? These things may never happen in my lifetime, but I’m not going to be so presumptuous and vain to try to erect new species on my own either. I’ve seen how that goes when overly ambitious amateurs start splitting genera into a dizzying number of “new” species, and it means by ICZN rules that those names get removed from use in the future. Many times, species splitting is just a marketing gimmick to sell the same species twice under different names to satisfy the completist. In terms of my own engagement with research, I continue to be fed by a great trilobite expert, so I lack for nothing in that regard for my reading pleasure on the trains (which I take a lot of!). With some of my close trilobite workers, I have waded into debates where it seems lives hang in the balance, such is the passion among this tiny 100ish global cohort. There is also always the usual drama and scandals, natural to such a small group. Next stepsI am already beginning a preview and planning for 2024. There remain longstanding commitments to sites I keep rolling over each year, but there are no shortage of long distance prospects for the coming season. With work out east in mid-April, I may as well fold that into a longer adventure. There are some hazy plans to do work with a rostroconch expert, and a host of farflung locations that would just make sense to visit. There may also be some periods of prospecting, and that is usually a low percentage success rate as far as these things go, yet worth the risk if the reward is commensurate. Ending off here with whatever other random items appear on this year's photo fossil roll. Enjoy! Comments are closed.
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Kane Faucher
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February 2024
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