Wooded Landscape with Figures

What figures are set in this "Wooded Landscape"? Three birds over the tree-tops; a light-coloured dog emerging from the wood on to the track that runs through it; a man standing and a seated woman where the track turns to the left; and in the distance sheep grazing, shown as tiny dabs of white.
Following the track from right to left, we come from a brightly lit area into a zone of shadow. The ruts left by carts show that the track is used for transport. The tree-stump lying in the middle of the track may have fallen from a load of felled wood. The two people stopping for a rest are significant, since the woods were increasingly planted in the surroundings of The Hague and Haarlem for the recreation of the urban citizenry – a new use besides forestry and hunting terrain for the aristocracy.

Ducke Astrid: Jan II. Vermeer van Haarlem, Wooded Landscape with Figures, in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 224-225