Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Remember Pandy the Cushion-Slayer? Well, it was general Pandymonium here again the night before last.
I woke up to a beautiful misty morning after a night of rain. It was rather Brigadoon-like outside with a sense of mystery and wispy clouds. I was enjoying looking out over the vibrant colors of new spring growth — the pink blooms of the redbud, the yellow of the colorguard yucca, the purple of the lupine blossoms, and the trees slowly leafing out and lightly greening up the mountain sides in the distance.
Then I noticed something else.
Uh Oh!
At the bottom of the hill, the arbor bench cushion had been flung down to the clearing. I had no idea where the bench had gone. It wasn’t anywhere in sight. Ah Ha! That meant I was paid a visit!
So, I looked for other signs of marauding bear and found them. Pandy had snapped off yet another leader from the top of another arbovitae. She had also decapitated the birdbath and threw both the top and the bottom of the birdbath off the top of the patio, and down over the tall boulder wall. That girl was having fun, eh!? (That’s the top of the birdbath resting upside-down below the snapped arborvitae.)
It turns out Pandy visited the hammock, too. That was a first for her! Maybe she’ll come back for another swing? I hope so.
I'll post a little of the Hammock video footage tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to show you a few stills, so you could see how much fun she had the other night.
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❄️ 🎄 Time to post this again! If you didn’t see this in a previous year, I hope you’ll have a chance to watch this year!
I love how this video chronicles my husband’s and my two decades of magical winters in the mountains of western North Carolina. We often said that moving to a mountain-top near Asheville was the best move we ever made — short of marrying each other, of course. 💙
Some of you have asked why I haven’t been here much lately. I’m afraid I’ve had to take a break. I’ll be back, but appearances will still be a bit sporadic for a while. That’s because I lost my beloved husband, Al Petteway, to cancer at the end of September. As many of you know, grief is a gauntlet in itself, but there’s so much to do, besides, including wrestling with rolls of red tape.
You can hear my Al’s stunning, stellar guitar-playing throughout this video. He’s definitely worth a listen if you haven’t heard him play before! (You can hear me play piano and guitar, too. Al and I also vocalize, and Al plays bouzouki on the 2nd tune, as well.)
The great news is that the bears have kept on being their usual, hilarious bear-selves this entire time. I have loads of fantastic footage from last summer and fall. In fact, one bear was here just a couple days ago, again, having a blast. She did the entire circuit here; she played with all of the toys, even including the bench-cushion down at the wisteria arbor. That’s one of my favorite tells that the bears have been by — the cushion has been removed from the arbor bench and flung far and wide. 😁 🐻 (I wonder if she is the same bear who I featured in my video post on November 10?)
More to come, hopefully soon. I’ve got another big and enticing stack of SD cards waiting for me to pour through. That cute bear clearly wanted her 15 minutes of fame, so I’m going to give her a feature she’d be proud of.
Merry, Happy to all of you!! And bittersweet tidings to those among us who are struggling with loss. As the saying goes, may their memory be a blessing.
And may the New Year be kinder to us all.
https://youtu.be/8W513IhELXc
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Hey Everybody!
I wanted to let you know I’ve been working *really* hard on a special video project. It’s incredibly intense! I’ll be making the video public this week. My husband, Al, just watched the video for the first time and he thought it was great. (Phew!)
Just fyi -- this video will *not* be suitable viewing for everyone. I’m providing plenty of notice for the faint-of-heart to skip on to another video, well before the stressful footage plays out.
For those of you who *do* have the heart for it, though, or who are simply curious, I think you’ll be astounded by these fraught moments, and that they were captured by my trail cameras, with audio. It doesn’t matter how many times I view this footage, it *still* gives me goosebumps and makes my heart race. That’s saying quite a lot considering I’ve been working on this same footage for days now. 😳
Everything turned out fine, btw!! There’s nothing gruesome! It’s just an incredibly intense couple of seconds.
I went back and forth for months on whether to post this footage, as some of you know. I finally opted to share and decided to create a longer-form video with narration to provide some context, and to show the beautiful bear family both before and after their stressful encounter with me and my dog.
If this sounds like a video you’d be interested in watching, please keep an eye out for it on this channel!
-Amy
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Heeeey – Long time no write!
If you are new to this channel, and didn’t already know I’m also a musician and photographer, this video is most definitely for you! ❄️🎄
WINTER IN THE BLUE RIDGE
with music by Amy White & Al Petteway
https://youtu.be/8W513IhELXc
This is my super special project from last year. I’ll be sharing this link each year when the Solstice comes around again. I hope you enjoy it.
I’ve posted loads of videos since I wrote here a month ago. I’m providing video titles and links below, in case you missed any of these and would like to check them out. 🐻
Merry-Merry & a Happy-Happy to all!
-Amy
_________________________________
BEAR TAKES HIS BALL AND GOES HOME
https://youtu.be/QJQK6Ca7mnw
A GAGGLE OF TURKEY TOMS
https://youtu.be/Yvg5LYg90IQ
BEAR EATS PUMPKIN & SWING
https://youtu.be/aFfAhd_zzSY
BEAR STEALS RUBBER DUCKY
https://youtu.be/aCd7fLShI7k
_________________________________
SHORTS:
A beautiful bobcat stalks toward the camera
youtube.com/shorts/XOwtJCfwSH4
Kona Bear Walks on a Log
youtube.com/shorts/5fnoHJpGOgA
Bobcat on a Log
youtube.com/shorts/NT7LueUsJq...
Little Bear Cub, Big Blue Ball
youtube.com/shorts/jnd2mYJJ9Y...
Beautiful Buck on a Cold Autumn Morning
youtube.com/shorts/QUrJ5el-rT...
Ava the Aussie in Slo Mo with Bear Bells
youtube.com/shorts/alKFUZsDt8...
Turkey in the Snow
youtube.com/shorts/3kwX1eMGJ18
Gobble, Gobble
youtube.com/shorts/RiamPdVKj8...
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BEAR STEALS RUBBER DUCKY! 🐥🐻🐥
https://youtu.be/aCd7fLShI7k
Did you miss this video? — Are you feeling stressed?
If so, I've got the perfect diversion for you! This video should help tide you over — with a smile — at least until the next sensational news headline hits. The adorable antics of this sweet young sow brought me a great deal of joy. I hope she can do the same for you, too, if she hasn’t already.
https://youtu.be/aCd7fLShI7k
--*LUNAR ECLIPSE:*
We had a lovely view of the recent lunar eclipse from our perch on the hill. My photos of the event aren’t very sharp, though, since I tend to shoot handheld. It was still a lot of fun capturing these moody images of the clouds in the valley, and the moon overhead. I actually like the dreamy feeling that resulted from the lack of sharpness. The effect was rather painterly, don’t you think? (That’s my excuse for not bringing out the tripod, and I’m sticking to it. 🙄 ) I’m including a few of my eclipse-pix here in case you aren’t on FB and didn’t see my post to Facebook.com/FairviewCritterCams.
--*SHORTS:*
I’m starting to add a few “Shorts” videos to YT’s Shorts feed. It would be grand if the shorts could help bring my channel a little more exposure. So far, they don’t seem to be making a darn bit of difference. We shall see! (Nevertheless, she persisted. 😉 )
I already have dozens of succinct wildlife video-gems that would be a perfect fit for the Shorts format. So, in addition to sharing brief excerpts from some of my longer videos, I’ll also post a few entirely-new-to-you clips to the Shorts feed, too.
--*SUPER THANKS:*
Supposedly there’s this new-fangled way you all can support my channel, if you’d like. I believe the links for giving Super Thanks should be available below both my Shorts and long-form videos. Batteries aren’t getting any cheaper so I’d be Super Duper Thankful in return.
--*EVEN BETTER THANKS:*
If you’d prefer that the majority of your donation goes to my work — (rather than to YouTube/Google) — your donations are always *most* welcome here, too:
Paypal.me/FairviewCritterCams
Or the old fashioned way, sent via snail-mail with a paper-check made out to:
AMY WHITE
FAIREWOOD STUDIOS
PO Box 1093
Weaverville, NC 28787
--*IN THE WORKS:*
I’ve got a wonderful roster of longer story-videos and some really fun compilation videos in the works. These are much more intense projects than my usual channel fare. They can take me a long, long time to weave together. The bears are just beginning their snoozes, though, so I feel like I can soon spend less time working on camera maintenance, battery refreshing, and the rounding up and editing of literally thousands of videos on dozens of SD cards every other day. Now I can begin work on editing some of the sweet footage I've captured over the previous year(s) and get it ready to post. I’ll also be devoting more time to Al’s and my new recording of original acoustic instrumental music. (Another very time-consuming, labor-intensive joy.) I’m so loving all these new projects! — Both the bears and the tunes! 🐻🎵 — I hope you’ll enjoy them, too.
Thanks so much, everybody!!!
-Amy
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Autumn in the WNC mountains!
-- when the forests glow like a church's stained glass windows on a beautiful sunny day
-- when the big boy bucks begin their rut, make their mark, and court their does
-- and when our beloved bears go in for last call on their acorn buffets.
Bears are busy almost 24/7 now. They're getting as plump and cozy as they can before going down for their long winter's nap. We do get to see occasional bears mid-winter when they temporarily emerge from their dens for a mid-snooze snack. I've even gotten some of my favorite bear photos that time of year! But it's just not quite the same as full-on spring and summer when there are wonderful new bear families roaming about, and when the little cubs are busy exploring their new world, and playing rambunctiously.
Autumn is such a bittersweet time, isn't it? It is achingly gorgeous out there this year, too! The fall foliage in our mountains is truly the best we've seen in many, many years. Al and I can't stop making photos and saving memories. But soon we won't get to see the beautiful bears again for several months. *sniff*
Mid-winter, I tend to dream of the first bear sightings in the coming spring. At least the cold weather down-time provides an opportunity for me to dive further into my ginormous, growing video archives. I captured so much great footage this year already! Now that there will be a pause in ursine activity, I can begin work on some more of the best footage I simply didn't have time to share before. (So not fair of me to keep collecting and hoarding all this tremendous bear-treasure without sharing the bounty. I do wish there were more hours in a day!)
For now, I had a little fun decorating the Once Upon a Time Garden Bed-Bed for All Souls. I hope a couple more bears will happen by this scene before they retire for the year. For next Halloween, I think I'll have to spring for a big bad bat skeleton and attach it to the dancing bunny bed-frame. 💀🎃🦇
I hope this autumn is a glorious one for you!
More videos to come!
P.S. This image features the yearling I call, "Kona." Both bears in this image are actually Kona! I merely combined 2 different still-frames from this same video, which was captured during her visit just yesterday afternoon. Kona and I had a interesting little encounter when she first approached this area. Will share more about that later.
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Don't miss this one!!! (-- or the other links below!)
BEAR FAMILIES VISIT OUR HOME: Sadie's Story
https://youtu.be/G_W1wZzikak
This was a pretty epic project for me. It took well over a year of capturing, gathering, and editing footage for this one Mama Bear and her new family. Then, once I chose which favorite footage to include in this video-story, it took weeks for me to weave it all together in Final Cut Pro -- then it took even more time to add and edit the narration.
I'm really proud of this project -- even despite my own private hell over a couple things which I would have redone if I could afford that kind of time.🙄 I just had to move on. Al and I still have loads more tracks to record and edit for our new album of instrumental music.
I hope and plan to do a lot more in-depth critter-cam video projects like this, now that I have a wonderful, growing archive of footage to work with. Ditto for including narration for more videos, as people seem to enjoy that. I'm already piecing together the basic structure for several different thematic compilations. -- Like my Bear Tree Medley, for example, which you really should see, if you missed it the first go-round!!! Seriously!! So many beautiful creatures and happenings pass by this one spot on a regular basis, year-round. It's pretty amazing what my cameras have captured in that one spot over the years:
NC WOMAN's TRAIL CAMERA CAPTURES
https://youtu.be/hcTVuIQ8sO8
If you didn't take the time to watch either of those videos yet, I sure hope you'll be willing to give them a try!
For those of you who are new to this channel, you might enjoy my full-length channel intro, too? That video provides a lot more background for my decade-old trail camera project:
AMY the TRAIL CAMERA GIRL
https://youtu.be/EBE-1Hozp_k
Thanks, as always, for your wonderful comments and likes, and for sharing your time with me and my work!
I'm so grateful to you all,
-Amy
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--2 New Videos & Photos --
TOPSY and TURVY BEAR CUBS FIGHT OVER the BALL
https://youtu.be/nZazQJB4B0U
SO CUTE! Bear Cub Cameo
https://youtu.be/aP7Q0LPQah8
Also, Sadie came to visit my driveway vegetable garden yesterday. There’s a first time for everything, eh? Just as she was about to settle down and nosh on all my Thai basil, I encouraged her to skedaddle back to her cubs. These are just screen captures from a low res video shot through 2 glass doors, so not the clearest capture. You can still see her settling in, then realizing I’m there.
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(Video Links Below) -- Yesterday was one of those deliciously-cool, breezy days when it felt just like autumn, yet still looked like summer. Well, because it still is. -- To top off that scrumptious day, Mama Bear Sadie and her cubs, Topsy & Turvy stopped by for another visit. They’re so precious! — btw, if you look closely at Sadie’s face in this pic, you can see the dark circle around her eye. That’s why I often think of Sadie as “Panda Eyes.” That telltale coloring is one of the ways I identify her. (This first photo is long and includes Sadie's cubs on the right side of the frame. I'm not sure if you can see the whole photo. If you can't, you can always swing by Facebook to view the entire image, and to see a video of my garden in bloom with the mountains in the background. Facebook.com/FairviewCritterCams )
I'm hearing from lots of folks that they never received notifications for some of my recent videos. So, a couple video links are below, just in case you didn't see them:
HAPPY HAPPY BEAR JUMPS ON A SHRUB
https://youtu.be/Y837eF35wr8
BEAR CUBS versus The BIG RED EGG
https://youtu.be/F--6-qaT3Gk
There are plenty more. I hope you'll swing by to see if there are any you missed!
youtube.com/user/FAIRVIEWCRITTERCAMS/videos
More coming soon. 🐻
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Bears, Bears, and More Bears! (Plus a bunch of other critters.)
A curated collection of trail camera videos brought to you by Amy D. White.
Capturing Wildlife Footage in Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains Since 2011.