I guess mine has to be the trip I alluded to last week.  This trip was special
because it was the first shelling expedition I ever undertook and it was right
here in landlocked Alberta!
While on a trip in which the main goal was collecting dino fossils we came across
thousands of empty unionid mussels (Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea) on the banks
of the South Saskatchewan River.  Most were articulated with fairly intact
periostracum, but no meat inside whatsoever.  Well it was a bit too hot (yes it
can be hot here in April, even in the Great White North) so we only grabbed a
couple of dozen, but we went back just this last weekend to get more - before the
river level rises and covers them all.
It is a bit of a mystery why there should be that many dead, but unpredated
shells - but after some thinking and research we now believe that the river is
unusually low, and a sudden and dramatic lowering of the water perhaps caused the
die-off.  If that is so, then this was truly a special chance for us, perhaps
never to be repeated!
But that's not the only reason it was special - we camped that night on the river
bank and observed the many migrating birds passing through the area (amny species
of duck, warblers),  watched a pair of flickers hollowing out a nest in a log,
and sat around the campfire at night listening to the beavers chewing their bark.
 
Nora and Joe
Calgary, Alberta
CANADA
 
Martin E. Tremor, Jr. wrote:
 
> Things are a bit slow here on CONCH_L.
>
> Do any of you self collectors have stories to share regarding a personal
> shelling trip...or maybe the finding of a special shell you are especially
> proud of? I am sure Jim and Bobbi have some Bahamas trips that would make
> fascinating reading. How about anyone else who has shelled the exotic corners
> of the earth (or even at our own back doors for that matter).
>
> Martin Tremor
> St. Petersburg, FL