Upcoming Field trips at Newport for fossils, etc...

Guy DiTorrice

Greetings Fossil Fans: Here is an invitation to attend one of the Oregon Fossil Guy's beach combing field trips on the beach at Newport. Yes, there is a fee for this wonderful educational experience with your guided professional.

Oregon Fossil Guy's Upcoming beach fossil field trips in the Newport area include:

Sunday July 13 8:00 am Moolack Beach (north of Newport in paved parking lot past Moolack Shores Motel)

Tuesday July 22 5:30 pm Beverly Beach State Park (meet in the day-use parking area west of the entrance)

Look for his dark-green jeep with the FOSSIL sign in the window. Only $39 per person [payable to "Guy DiTorrice"] with all collection supplies included (canvas collecting bag, gloves, brush, magnifying glass) and your collected specimens are identified, bagged and labeled. Participants receive a printed copy of the new fossil-collecting rules and the OSU Sea Grant fact sheet "Fossils You Can Find on Oregon Beaches". You provide solid footwear for walking on slick/mossy rock, large cobbles and long stretches of sandy beach as well as layered clothes, with recent foggy conditions making it a bit cool here.

Please pass this invitation along to any other fossil fan of interest and let him know any days or dates of interest to you. Hope to see you here.

Guy DiTorrice aka "Oregon Fossil Guy"
PO Box 1643
Newport OR 97365
[720] 326-3573 cell/text

Beachcombing on the Oregon Coast with Grant McOmie

Trip Ideas > Grant’s Getaways Agate Hunting on the Oregon Coast > by Grant McOmie, February 8th, 2013.

Editors notes: Remember agates are still readily found along the Pacific Coast, primarily on the Central Oregon Coast from Florence to Otis. For those of you wanting a great place to stay for beach combing the Moolack Shores Resort over looks a great area known for fossils. For more on this story check out the photos.  For ease of beach access if you are not staying at the resort, I would advise you to use the unpaved turnout (with a green sign stating road adopted by Hang-glider pilots and...) that is just ½ a mile south of the Beverly beach state park  (not the asphalt parking lots). Approaching from the south it would be 1½ miles north of milepost 136 which is north of NE 100th St.

A Beautiful Weekend on the Oregon Coast for a Festival!

2nd Annual Yachats Agate Festival This Weekend

Sheri of Waldport found these nice fossils

Join us this Saturday and Sunday, January 19^th and 20^th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the 2nd annual Yachats Agate Festival at the Yachats Commons. This free event will feature spectacular displays as well as family friendly learning opportunities for all ages. 

FACETS Gem & Mineral Gallery will have K.T. Myers the author of the Pocket Guide Agates of the Oregon Coast there with the books, plus locally made agate jewelry and more. 

< - - Beachcomber Sheri of Waldport, will be speaking and sharing some of her tips to successful beachcombing on the Central Oregon Coast. 

Summer Beachcombing Treasures

Local 8 year old Savannah of Sam Case Elementary found these marine fossils while beach combing with her family yesterday. The fossils shown here were found just north of Newport and are approximately 15-20 million years old. Nice finds Savannah.

Notes: The white shell is filled with calcite crystals which appears to have been an enhydro (water filled) agate clam belly. The reddish clam is totally fossilized.

Minus Tides On the Central Oregon Coast

Wonderful morning minus tides are predicted for the Central Oregon coast to make for great fun family activities of tide pooling and beach combing for fossils and agates now through June 1st. Just remember to keep a watchful eye on the children and never turn your back on the ocean!

Editors notes: This is a live view looking south to the Yaquina, Head Lighthouse from the Moolack Beach area (Newport, Oregon). This location is well known as a scenic place to see that provides terrific shell fossils found among the cobbles exposed by the ocean. The image refreshs approximately every seven minutes. Click your refresh/reload button to be sure you are viewing the most recent images.

Another bag full of goodies

We are now enjoying the rewards of the minus tides of spring here at the coast. Here is a photo of just a few of the treasures David of Salem found here in the Newport area beach combing with his family.

Editors Note: Upper left photo- possibly a blue agate, upper right possibly a lavender agate but all are beautiful pieces.

Bloodstone still found on the Oregon Coast

< - - Green stones shown are two nice specimens of bloodstone a.k.a. heliotrope, jasper found lately in the Newport area by the father & son team of Frank & Jeremiah. Good timing fellows bloodstone is also one of the March birthstones.

Photo: Great collecting done as a family activity shows their collection of two red Carnelian Sagenite Agates, two blue agates and a large blue-black agate.

Editors note: Photos were taken of the specimens wet to better show the exquisite colors.

Pleasures await you by the seashore!

Sorry I had a shipment going out at the time a lady came in with a complete fossilized Nautilus that she had just found here in the Newport area. The nautilus was a little larger than a quarter and in very good condition, still had some matrix rock attached to it, but the iridescent shell was complete and spectacular in color and condition. Unfortunately I had to run and help with the freight, so no photo. Well that's another reason to go beach combing for those unexpected treasures from nature here on the Oregon Coast.

Spring Break things to do list: Spring Whale Watching week on the Oregon Coast starts soon March 20-27, 2010. Spring break will offer an active calendar of events for family fun activities, live entertainment, art festivals concerts, Oregon Coast Fishing and more...

Video of Agate Hunting in Newport

Agatized Shell Found by Beachcombers

Today this beauty was found just south of Newport by lucky guest Ross and his sons of Portland sharing a fun day together on the beach. This has to be one of the most complete agatized specimens we have ever seen of this variety, and showing such great detail as well. This was just one of their finds. They also had a more agates and an agatized limb cast and an other nice agatized marine gastropod (snail-like) shell. Nice finds guys!

Photo is of possibly a Bruclarkia oregonensis. Identification from (Fossil Shells From Western Oregon, page 77)

Editors Note: The photo was illuminated from below to better show the agate.

February Beachcombing at Newport

Another day of trophies found by the father and son team Frank and Jeremiah sharing quality time on the beach together at Newport. The first two specimens to the left are agates, the pink/orange one is very unusual with a pattern we haven't seen before. The one next to it appears to be a blue-black fortification (band can be seen within in the sky-blue sunk in area) agate.

The two Sagenite agates are just beautiful specimens, the yellow sard is very compact and will make a beautiful piece of jewelry. The black one is rather coarse with the needles of sagenite right up at the surface (kinda looks like a face with the hair going straight up). It definitely has personality.

The enhydro agate is actually a cloud agate that also happens to have a water bubble trapped in it. The black cloud is a dark cloud like inclusion that just happens to look like a claw (no it is NOT a CLAW) just happens to be shaped like one.

Recent Beachcombing On The Oregon Coast

< - - Lucky resident beachcomber Chelsea of Lincoln County found this 5 inch sard agate weighing at just under 2 pounds a couple of weeks ago. Her dad Tim also likes strolling along the beach finding agates.

Tim found these beautiful agates Monday. - - >
These are just a few of what Tim found. The largest one a fancy agate has a very thick skin covering what appears to be a light blue agate, the white agate to the right of the quarter is a clam bellie agate, the center red one is a very nice carnelian agate. Good hunting by these two agate collectors.