Day 6 of ‘shelter in place’ brings a Riker case of Mazon Creek fossils collected ~2017 out of a box I’ve been meaning to go through. There is a jellyfish, and a few species of plants. Followed by a walk in the park with the pup. Blackwell park is unfortunately closed to fishing. A dead, […]
Mazon Creek Pit 11 Fossil Collecting- March 25, 2019
Mazonia Pit 11 Season Opener (ish) After a long winter, collecting season is finally here and we are slowly coming out of hibernation! The earliest that weather and time allowed to collect Pit 11 for me was March 25 this year. The weather was perfect hiking weather, sunny with highs in the mid-40s. On this […]
Mazon Creek Pit 11 Collecting Report 4/22/2018- South Unit
A Quick Trip To The Mazon Creek South Unit in Late April Like the past 3 years, it has so far been a very late spring here. While the rest of the U.S. is enjoying 60-degree plus weather, Chicagoland is still recovering from the last blanket of snow. This weekend though, was the first taste […]
Mazon Creek Opener 2018
The days are getting longer, and a bit warmer, slowly but surely. Spring is around the corner. Mazon Creek is now open for collecting from March 1-September 30. I’ve written a lot about the history, terrain, and collecting of this locale, so my next few trip reports will just be a reflection on the day’s […]
Mazon Creek Pit 11 Collecting Report- Islands and Braceville Hill Late 2017
Mazon Creek Collecting Report #4 Yesterday, on September 30, marks the last day of the Fossil Collecting season of the Mazonia State Fish and Wildlife area for 2017. I did not go collect then, the area is quite overgrown regardless. This post briefly highlights 2 end-of season hunts in the previous weekends. One of which […]
Mazon Creek Fossil Collecting Opener and Trip Report 3/5/17
Mazon Creek Fossil Collecting Trip #1 This is a field report from the first Mazon Creek trip of 2017. This will be the 3rd consecutive year of keeping record of productive fossil collecting areas across the vast wilderness of the Mazonia Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area. The work thus far is documented in an […]
Mazon Creek- the 4 Tully Monster finds of 2016
This year, 4 excellent specimens of Illinois’ State Fossil, the Tullimonstrum gregarium aka Tully Monsters, were unearthed from the famous fossil beds of Mazon Creek’s Pit 11. 2 were found in early March, coincidentally on the same day, another in July 2016, and then the 4th in November. It is possible that more were found this year, […]
