Steve Fagin

Last week, I joined a volunteer crew that finished building a sturdy wooden span across Cowslip Brook at The Merritt Family Forest, a 75-acre nature preserve owned and maintained by the Groton Open Space Association (GOSA) near the top of Fort Hill.

Friends and I were delighted, but not exactly amazed, to see and hear a wide array of birds the other morning, while we hiked at the Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge in Coventry, R.I.: mallard duck, tufted titmouse, Baltimore oriole, ovenbird, scarlet tanager, veery, red-eyed vireo, black-capped chickadee, prairie warbler, pine warbler, great crested flycatcher, eastern towhee, chipping sparrow ...

If you live in a tiny, 20-by-8 house — about half the size of a school bus — chances are you venture out frequently to stretch your legs.

While strolling on a grass-lined path along the western tip of Fishers Island the other day, fellow hikers and I savored views of a sparkling Atlantic Ocean, Race Rock Lighthouse, Great Gull and Little Gull islands, and Long Island's Orient Point.

The melodious call of a wood thrush greeted hikers who entered a wooded path in Preston the other morning.

On one of the hottest days and biggest summer holidays of this century last Friday, friends and I bicycled past cars that had backed up bumper-to-bumper through downtown Westerly — all of us heading to the beach.

As friends and I bicycled toward the parking lot at Bluff Point Coastal Reserve in Groton one sunny morning last week, a man who had just stepped out of his car waved to us.

Ocean Beach Park may be one of the region's most venerable, popular places to swim or stretch out in the sand, but bicyclists who pedal less than 3 miles from New London's 86-year-old landmark can enjoy a refreshing dip in Long Island Sound at a little-known, off-the-beaten-path beach in Waterford.

While some towns in the region have longer shorelines, few offer more public beaches than East Lyme. And there's no better way to cool off on a steamy midsummer day than to take a refreshing dip.