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April 2009 Trip to Batavia, NY to Collect Fossilized Stag-Horn Coral

We went to collect Stag Horn Coral Fossils at a site near Batavia, NY (Buffalo area) on Sunday, April 26th. Of the eight of us who went, three were first-timers –- but unfortunately, we had no kids! None of our families with kids could make it. Some of our adults – okay, most of us – managed to generate nearly as much enthusiasm, however, and we did get a bunch of fossils for the discovery blocks –- not to mention just a few special extra-cool ones to keep! The Crew, collecting
Half the crew, collecting.
Dodie's Find Dodie was one of our first-timers -- she found lots of good stuff!
Sarah, while a long-time club member, hadn't been here before either. Here she has a nice one still in matrix. Sarah's find in matrix.
Positive and negative fossils Here is another one that came out of its host rock as Sarah picked it up, so she ends up with positive and negative fossils.
Dodie finds a fossil clam. While it's the Staghorn Coral that is really all over the place here, we also find some clams, other bivalves, sponge and other corals, crinoid stems, even the occasional trilobite -- though mostly you find pieces of those, I have yet to find a whole one. Dodie finds a clam.
The Haul We were there less than 3 hours, and got more than we really wanted to carry back. That's always the hardest part, and in spring with the ground all mud, there was no way to drive back along this field, so it's a pretty long haul back to the cars! The hardest part!

We had a good time, we really did bring home more fossils than mud, and we stopped in Batavia on the way home for a late lunch and a bit of clean-up. I'm not quite ready to do this every weekend (my back's still complaining about all that bending over), but I think I could be talked into it in a month or two!



updated 28 April 2009