You can still see a bit of the gold color of its breeding plumage on its head and breast. Around the next bend there's an area that used to be forested. The trees were killed by beetles. Reforestation has started. Cyclists and cars make their way around the outer edge of the loop drive.
Next stop is a short boardwalk trek out to an observation platform.
There were Canada geese, shorebirds, a few deer, and cars to watch creeping along the far side of the wildlife loop. They were hard at work identifying shorebirds out in the mudflats. Most of the crowd on this late Saturday afternoon was enjoying the deer. I joined the crowd creeping towards Tom's Cove and the ocean .