Birders on the lookout on a deck overlooking wetlands at Bird Studies Canada's headquarters. -- Photos by Wendy Cridland

Norfolk County's most distinctive geographical feature is an uninhabited sand spit thrusting nearly 50 km into Lake Erie.

Aptly named Long Point, it acts as both a launching pad for birds heading south and a haven for them when they return. More than 300 species have been spotted there. In fact the first bird-banding station in North America opened at its tip in 1959.

Time it right and you can watch birds being banded at a visitor centre on Old Cut Road.

Although it's open spring and fall, the best times to visit are usually mid-May and mid-September.

You can track bird arrivals by visiting bsc-eoc.org/pbol/pbirdo.html and checking the sightings board. That website is maintained by Bird Studies Canada (BSC), which may well be our feathered friends' best friend.

BSC grew from being a bird observatory to a national bird conservation organization. Its headquarters and research centre, near Port Rowan, contains an exhibits room with interactive displays and a huge map showing migration routes.

Outside, past picnic tables on the deck, walking trails with explanatory plaques lead to views of Long Point Bay and a Class A wetland BSC maintains. The headquarters is open to the public Monday to Friday; the trails are open daily.

Just minutes from Port Rowan, nature meets history at Backus Heritage Conservation Area.

Backus has some of the usual features we've come to expect in conservation areas -- picnic pavilions, campgrounds and a swimming pool. But there's also a Conservation Education Centre, with a new display called Species Not At Risk, a grist mill that dates to 1798, a Heritage Village that includes an unusual eight-sided schoolhouse from near Waterford, and Backus Woods, at 344 hectares (850 acres) the largest remnant of Carolinian forest in Ontario.

The Conservation Education Centre and Heritage Village are open Wednesday through Sunday, July 1 to Labour Day. Backus is open to campers May 1 through mid-October.

Agriculturally rich Norfolk is a great place to shop for things to eat and drink.

The Cider Keg, 1231 Hwy. 24 South, near Vittoria, has fresh and sparkling cider.

Minutes from there is Kernal Peanuts, which grows its own Valencia nuts.

Beef Land, a butcher shop at 203 Main St., Delhi, sells mustard butcher Luc Brackx makes from seed he buys and grinds, plus locally made Dennis Horseradish.

A volunteer bird bander checks a Red-bellied Woodpecker at a banding station at Long Point Observatory.

Norfolk is Ontario's largest producer of sweet potatoes, supplies the cabbage for the coleslaw sold at KFC, and is the home of Canada's largest ice cream producer, Good Humor-Breyers, which also makes Ben and Jerry's.

Depending on when you visit, you might also find white asparagus, popping corn and ginseng.

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BOTTOM LINE

MEAL TIPS: Surely Beans, on Port Rowan's main street, has good home-made soups and sandwiches. Port Dover is noted for fresh perch.

MORE INFORMATION: For details on travel to the area, contact Norfolk Tourism, 1-800-699-9038 or visit the website, norfolktourism.ca.