#2775 "Canada Geese in the Shade"

 

#2775 "Canada Geese in the Shade"
5x7 inches canvas panel oils

I decided to try one more oil sketch before calling it a day. 

About a hundred Canada geese call Singleton Lake home. They arrive back in late February each year and wait patiently for the ice to melt. They squabble over nesting territories and provide a big part of the spring soundtrack. The goslings hatch out in early May. The number of Canada geese explodes overnight. That is when I put out the car dealership flag fence. 

We tried different techniques to keep the geese from polluting the marble ridge. Any excrement on the rock gets washed into the waterway. We have a long list of methods that do not work including coyote and owl decoys. The geese are smart and can be educated. I prefer to work with nature.

We erect a low flag fence along the rocky waterfront. A second flag fence extends from the shore to the corner of our home. The geese are encouraged to graze and poop on a few acres of clover and grass - much of which we kept mowed just the way they like it. If the geese families cross to the rocky side of the flag fence, they are shooed back. The grandkids are helpful in policing the barrier. After a year or so of the flag approach, the returning geese were familiar with the rules. The geese still go rogue but not that often. The birds are smart and soon learn the rules. 

The goose excrement breaks down with the weather and fertilizes the soil without washing into the lake. Any of the excrement that gets on the rocks is picked up with gloves on and moved to the compost pile. 

The Flag Fence

These particular Canada geese families were respecting the car dealership flag fence and grazing happily on the clover in the shade of the large red cedar. I decided to paint moving targets and be very quick and loose with the oils. 

The plein air effort was fun. For this and much more art, click on Pixels.

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick