Took the train out to my little hotspot and came back with mostly the same stuff from that site. I can safely say I've pretty much tapped out the accessible material, with the rest so dense that it will shatter rather than split on bedding planes. It is a rather unique and interesting environment, with ridiculously abundant brachiopods ranging from tiny to honking huge, as well as an equally ridiculous amount of rostroconchs. Trilobites just about always come out as fragments, as this was probably a tidal washout area. 

My plans to go far east to dip into some Ordovician this weekend have been scuppered by the Canada Day weekend motel rate markup; hard to justify the cost at this time when I am gearing up for a very expensive August trip that should prove more exciting by an order of magnitude. So unless some other good option comes my way, it looks like the national long weekend will see me at home. But in other fabulous news, I ordered three new scribes, which means I can get back to doing prep after a long hiatus!

​Ok, just some quickie finds:

The better examples of the undescribed Odontocephalus sp. on the left, with the scrappier bits on the right. There were not as numerous this time around, and it is next to impossible to find one with the pygidial rostrum preserved. 

If only I had a nickel for every little bit of Coronura aspectans I encountered. These tease pieces were the more significant, with the majority of them showing as isolated thoracic segments. The one in the upper middle has a big one and a little one on the same rock (the reverse has the anterior "cowcatcher" denticles of Odontocephalus pictured in the previous photo). 

Other stuff. No, I didn't bother with the thousands of brachs, but I generally pick up a few better preserved rostroconchs, particularly if they are free of matrix. These ones are a bit dirty/chalky, and just need a wee wipe down. The one on the lower right has both the snout and hood preserved (just need to prep it out). Oh, and a medium spired gastropod steinkern on the upper left. 

So, no great shakes, and probably not worth the train fare, but this was all that was really worth taking in eight hours. 

I am far overdue to give a report on my dozen dirty days in May, and now that summer has officially started (and I'll be doing a mini-trip this weekend), I may as well tie up some loose ends.

Overall, spring fossil digging starts out strong, motivated by pent up winter hunger, and steadily dwindles -- mostly on account of a grad course I teach, and this year some municipal stuff as I don one of my other many hats.  Let's just say that I have yet to find my trip-maker of the year, although I think I found some okay things so far. I still have two months on the freedom clock before the school bell rings and calls me back to labour from refreshment.

Immediately after teaching the grad course, the very next morning I was on a train with little more than my field pack of tools and a duffel bag with clothes and necessities. I went across Ontario and into Quebec, sticking exclusively with the Ordovician. I didn't find as much as I would have liked, but I'm also a bit fussier about what I take home. Pictures or it didn't happen:

Site 1: Bobcaygeon Fm

This material has pretty rough preservation and is more a scanning rather than splitting type of rock. Pictured here is a solo ​Pleurocystites squamosa

Flexicalymene and Calyptaulax can be found here. These were not worth taking home.

An incomplete cheirurid, and a mostly complete Isotelus gigas, but so bashed in and tough to make out. Both were also left behind.

The only two trilobites I took home was this Gabriceraurus that is mostly complete with its cephalon bashed in, and what I hope will turn out to be a complete Bumastoides.

​Site 2: Billings / Utica

It was a Triarthrus bonanza, and I haven't even scratched the surface of this location. I was averaging maybe 2-5 of them an hour. These shales were loaded in orthocone nautiloids and long graptolite beds, but also a number of pyritized trilobites. The first one is complete but needs to be glued down and prepared. The second one is missing cheeks and the tail, but still shiny. The issue with Triarthrus rougensis is that the genal spines always appear in the negative, so both sides must be collected. Given my space restrictions on an already 150 pound field pack filled with fossils, this all adds weight.

Although a scrappy-crappy Triarthrus eatoni, I had to keep this one for it trying to disguise itself as a nautiloid. The T. rougensis on the right was just one of several I collected, so no sense picturing them all. 

Triarthrus eatoni, and a fairly nice pyritized one. I kept the headless one on the right on account of its freakish size (see tape measure for scale). 

Some non-trilobitic keepers: a somewhat rare ammonoid (Trocholites?) and the sponge Stephanella sancta. This is a solo example with very defined spicules; I also collected a whole plate of them where the spicules are not as distinct. 

​Sites 3-5: Neuville Fm, various horizons

My kingdom for a complete Cryptolithus. At this particular location, there were beds with these abundant hash plates of moults. I have found complete cryptos in the past, but generally in shalier layers and crushed. These are all 3D, and I kept them because they are showy with good contrast.

Some closeups of the plates I brought home. 

Look very carefully or you'll miss the two Ectenocrinus here. In the Neuville, one has to have a good pair of eyes and go slowly. Once I prepare this, it will be like night and day. As for trilobites, the Neuville is generally dominated by Flexicalymene senaria and Ceraurus pleurexanthemus (the "true" C. pleurexanthemus that is virtually identical with the Rust-Walcott variety). Apart from some Isotelus gigas​ parts, it was mostly a lot of these two bugs.

A Ceraurus semi-enrolled at the eighth segment. A researcher friend of mine speculates this could be the female protecting the eggs. On the right, another Flexi a bit distorted, but nicely buried (exposed parts tend to get exfoliated, so you want to focus on the more buried ones).

Ever more Flexis. 

And yet even more. 

This was just too cute to pass up. A very tiny Ceraurus​, hopefully complete. It did not add too much to my travel weight (I actually kept it in my wallet!). 

Another Ceraurus, missing its eyes. C-grade. On the right is evidence of Meadowtownella at a new spot. A return visit there to do a proper strata investigation is merited.

Non-Sites!

Being in Quebec means also spending lots of time with one of my best fossil friends in the world, so there is a social aspect to all of this, too. I acquired from him this neat Anacheirurus from Morocco, and a bucket-list item for me, the Chinese Cambrian lichid, Damesella paronai. I have something coming from him soon that is going to be really exciting.

Overall, it was an okay trip for finds, but not the best. Hanging out with my buddy, and the hair-raising adventures, made this more an experiential run. I have some new sites bookmarked for follow-up, which is great. I was not great at taking photos on this trip, as I was just too focused on the rocks to pull out the camera. Obviously, any site photos I took are for my own reference as disclosing locations is pretty much taboo. Looking over these photos, however, inspires me to get on with planning the next adventures. And, if the stars align, I do have an incredible adventure coming up before the summer is done!