Robert Bush Sr. is Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone’s Safety and Maintenance Engineer and the administrator of “Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera” page on Facebook.
A black bear and three cubs were caught on video near a small water hole in the Black Moshannon State Park in Centre County. Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone Safety and Maintenance Engineer Robert Bush Sr. manages a Facebook page “Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera” that uses trail cameras to record animals and birds in their natural habitat. The page has more than 51,000 followers and 18,000 YouTube subscribers.
Photographs courtesy of “Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera.
Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone Engineer’s Wildlife Camera Page has 51K Members
TYRONE, Pa. – Residents can watch a black bear and her cubs stroll across a log laying over a small creek without leaving Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone senior living community. The sound of water softly splashing against rocks only enhances the experience.
Video images of deer, coyotes, weasels, turkeys, gray squirrels, raccoons, mallard ducks and many other inhabitants of Black Moshannon State Park are available to the seniors and thousands of other social media users thanks to the dedication and creativity of Robert Bush Sr., the Safety and Maintenance Engineer at Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone.
Nearly a decade ago, Bush created a Facebook page “Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera.” An avid outdoorsman for most of his life, Bush used trail cameras to record animal life in the great outdoors. The 55-year-old Houtzdale resident grew up exploring the Black Moshannon State Park in Centre County and knew the forest well enough to find locations such as “The Log” to capture trail camera video of animals and birds in their natural habitat.
Currently, the Facebook page has 51,500 members who are from more than 100 countries. His YouTube page has more than 18,000 subscribers.
“I started back in around 2014 because I wanted to spend more time with my father, who taught me about the great outdoors,” Bush said. “We decided to buy a trail camera that operates off motion sensors and set the camera up, first with photos, and then to videos.”
Bush said he wanted his sister, who resided in Maine, to see the images. He figured Facebook was the best option to share.
“As I added videos, more and more people enjoyed them,” Bush said. “In 2017 we found a log across a small creek and wondered what might cross it. After the first week we captured nothing on it but left it there, and on the second trip, we found we had captured a black bear with three cubs crossing the log.”
“The Log” became a popular fixture on Facebook and eventually evolved into the “Bob’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera” page.
Bush has worked at Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone for more than five years and is responsible for safety and maintenance in the senior living community. His duties range from conducting monthly fire and disaster drills, maintaining heating and cooling units, monitoring water temperatures in the rooms, and housekeeping. “We take pride in having a safe, clean home for our residents and staff,” he said.
Bush’s dedication to the Facebook page as well as his commitment to the senior living community made an impression on Dawn Karlheim, Executive Operations Officer at Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone. “Bob works so hard to make the lives of our residents and team members better on a daily basis,” Karlheim said. “On top of that, his great work on the wildlife Facebook page has impacted thousands of people throughout the world, including our own residents who get so much enjoyment from watching the animals in a natural setting.”
The Facebook page is a time-consuming, but enjoyable endeavor. Bush takes pride in the fact that followers generally abide by the rules, which include no discussions, posts or photos regarding either anti-hunting or pro-hunting stances. He encourages viewers to simply enjoy the nature depicted in the videos.
“I manually hike to each camera, approximately once a month, and remove the SD (Secure Digital) card that will hold between 350 to 500, 30-second videos,” Bush said. “Then, I review each video. If a video has something worthwhile, I name the video to make editing easier. With 10 cameras at three locations, it takes a while just to review them.”
Bush then uses different programs and digital tools to edit the videos, which can take hours of meticulous work.
“I usually end up with around five to eight hours invested per video, including hiking to get the videos,” Bush said. “It’s worth it. Reading the comments that people leave on Facebook is amazing. I must admit more than once, I’ve shed a tear or two while reading comments.”
“Most comments are from seniors who tell me how they can no longer get out, but my videos bring back memories of being with their father out in the woods when they were young,” he continued. “There were comments through the COVID-19 pandemic with people telling me how my videos get them through the day. Teachers reach out to tell me they use the videos in their classrooms and the children love them and get to identify all the wildlife. This is extremely rewarding, so much that I don’t even put advertising on any of my videos.”
The residents at Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone are among Bush’s biggest fans. He said watching the wildlife videos sometimes attracts as many participants as the regularly-scheduled game nights.
“They really love the videos,” Bush said. “I have as many come to watch my videos as go to play bingo, and that’s a lot! The residents tell stories of growing up in Pennsylvania and the wildlife they have encountered throughout their lives. The real surprise to me is when I show the videos to LifeStories memory care residents. They love the videos and remember and tell stories about the wildlife they have encountered throughout their lives.”
“Many of them remember going to Black Moshannon State Park, and this to me is the most satisfying part,” Bush said. “Those who have had a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s can understand how much this means to have the residents remember so clearly. My grandfather, who also taught me about the great outdoors, passed from Alzheimer’s many years ago. I often think about how happy it would have made him to see these, and to see the people now enjoy and remember.”
For more information, contact Dawn Karlheim, Executive Operations Officer, Colonial Courtyard at Tyrone, at dkarlheim@integracare.com or 814.686.5970.