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Hello All, Delighted to discover that the loon parents from last year have once again returned to the same nesting site - and are sitting on two eggs. Last year was so much fun capturing them with film and video. They successfully hatched one chick that time. (watch in 1080p HD for best quality) Chicks should hatch in 2 to 3 weeks!! Cheers, Justin

Hello All, May has been a great month in terms of wildlife viewing and sightings. My barred owl family should have chicks within the week, just came back from Algonquin Park (wild brookies and bull moose), and plenty of osprey, heron, and spring bird migration sights. Here is a short video I took last week of a Great Blue Heron preening. Pretty cool to see the wing stretch and neck scratching. (watch in 1080p HD for best quality) Cheers, Justin

Hello All, Spent the afternoon with the barred owl family today. Definitely lucked out, as I was able to capture on film the female vocalize a number of times to her mate - who was roosting some 200 yards away. It was my hope to capture this on film so I am pretty excited! (watch in 1080p HD for best quality) Thanks for watching... Cheers, Justin

Hello All, Was fortunate this past week to find a nesting pair of barred owls. The last few days have been spent shooting photographs and video. I was fortunate, and very lucky, to have the camera running when the male owl regurgitated a pellet. I have never witnessed this in the wild so was definitely a very cool moment. My guess is the chicks will be hatching in 3 to 4 weeks - can't wait to document it all. (watch in 1080p HD for best quality) Cheers, Justin

Hello All, With the spring finally showing itself, I located a spot down in Merrickville, Ontario that had a collection of garter snakes coming out of their winter hibernation. After shooting some photographs, I was fortunate to begin filming two snakes begin to mate. It was quite the intricate process - and very neat to witness. In total, it lasted approximately 15 minutes. (watch in 1080p HD for best quality) Cheers, Justin

KESAGAMI 2013. 　 　 Reflections... 　 A calm apprehension while sitting with a warm coffee at Maurice's kitchen table. Stealing the occasional glance from his window out over Lillabelle, and the fully loaded Cessna parked afloat at his dock, each passing cloud whispered of a lifting ceiling to come. Best laid plans to depart at sunrise for camp on Partridge Lake were put on hold a time but, Brenda and I were okay with that. Racing from our jobs back home after having quickly packed the girls away, the drive and sleepless nights preceding our arrival north were threatening exhaustion, so it was welcoming to simply stop, take a breath, relax a little, and enjoy Maurice's hospitality. The evening of January 27th, 2010 I opened an email from one Maurice Robin. Recently acquired from Gardiner Air Services, True North Air Service was Maurice's new business, which provided access to several fishing camps north of Cochrane Ontario. A friend of mine had given Maurice my name, possibly explaining to him that I write online fishing reports, and am rather partial to chasing trophy pike on one of his accessible lakes, Kesagami. Maurice had me hook, line and sinker first cast really, as my interest is always piqued when it comes to fishing my old northern home, but I needed to make it clear to him that I don't hold back with what is chosen to report. That fishing is not professional for me, it's honest, rewarding and instead quite personal, often to be shared in trust with friends. So, if his service could deliver or not, it would be written. To my surprise Maurice answered, "I'm new to this business Andrew, and the truth is exactly what I'm looking for." With Kesagami there was little doubt fish would be caught, although my best experience was through the ice. Part of me wondered if I would actually drown his hopes on the soft-water. Over a couple emails, a few phone calls and the recruitment of some buddies, a deal was struck for all to fish with True North in 2010. It turned out to be incredible and even better than expected. During the weeks short evenings between four of us we caught hundreds of walleye just on Partridge Lake alone, and through the long days we fished Kesagami we managed 17 pike over 40-inches, one near 48, and dozens of 35-40 inchers. The fishing delivered and then some, and so did Maurice. His camp was meticulously kept after being newly renovated, attention to every detail quite evident, and nothing was left wanting for any of us. Carl, Mike, Grant and I marveled over every minute of it. Because Maurice is a person one can respect, early on it became easy for me to admire him. An entrepreneur, a self-made man, and quite peculiarly a risk-taker given his rather careful and organized manner, it was an adventurous spirit and a will to be challenged which superceded his cautious other self, when ultimately taking on True North. At his table, sharing pike, walleye and brook trout fishing, work and life stories, and reliving his wild-rapids, Naden boat trip down the Kesagami River to supply lumber and materials for rebuilding Partridge Camp, his enthusiasm and spirit was palpable. Although our pre-flight morning skies were grey and cruddy for a time, listening to experiences such as Maurice's surely brightened the horizon. This past spring Maurice emailed to announce he was selling the business. Partridge and another brook trout camp on Echo Lake were doing well, but his costs and personal demands of outfitting many lakes were only breaking him even. Sad with the news it took awhile for me to properly respond. Brenda and I had been considering fishing Kesagami through the comforts of the lodge this summer, but unfortunately our vacation dates could not align with their open season. Kesagami Lodge is a beautiful spot with excellent food and service; something Brenda would probably appreciate most, yet truthfully my heart with that lake has always marched to a more solitary beat. Understanding that with Maurice you can step from the bush to the beach and gaze outward on the lake knowing you and your company are the only people there, the only one's fishing and exploring it that given day... well that is, and pretty well always has been the chosen Kesagami experience for me. Over the years Brenda and I have enjoyed our time on Kesagami immensely. Our first trip March 25th, 2005 was a cold, blustery, four hour icefishing fly-in which yielded 24 walleye and one big fish bite off. Two days later I returned with a friend and his father and caught my first trophy pike at forty inches. Return winter trips annually over the next six years would allow us some fishing days out there of multiple trophy pike, and upwards to a best day of ninety iced walleye. I would catch and release some kind of new personal best each season, and when others would join us they too would almost certainly catch trophies of their own. Experiences that have put countless smiles on friends and our faces. It was magical in all sense fishing those times, a wonderful place on ice where we were often dropped and left alone to laugh for hours while setting hook after hook. I would study Kesagami, dream about it, live for it each year, challenge it, and between that first day and today make 23 fly-in trips to the lake, fishing all months February thru August and hoist many, many big beautiful northerns and plump golden walleyes. Continued...　

Hello All, It has been fun watching and photographing the nesting common loon (see earlier post) and I am happy to say the egg has successfully hatched. I captured the following images when the chick was either 5 or 6 days old, back on July 3rd. Here is the chick at age 16/17 days. They certainly do grow quickly! And here is a short video I shot: Equipment used was a Canon 7d and Sigma 150-500mm telephoto. For those interested, photographic prints of some of these images are available for purchase on my website: www.JustinHoffmanOutdoors.com Happy Shooting, Justin

Hello All, For those that didn't see my past post in the Photography forum, I have been fortunate to photograph a pair of red foxes in Algonquin Provincial Park since last fall. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the den - and the six kits (which I believe to be approx. 7 - 8 weeks old). I have been back up to the park three times in as many weeks to photograph both the kits and parents, and back on May 24, I decided to make a short video showcasing their interactions. I thought those that love wildlife and the outdoors might enjoy... Cheers, Justin