Sheriff to birdwatchers: Please pull off the road

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – A sheriff in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is asking birdwatchers not to leave their cars parked in the middle of a road while they take off on foot in pursuit of a feathered find.

Chippewa County Sheriff Michael Bitnar posted “safety tips” on his department’s Facebook page Thursday welcoming birdwatchers to the county and sharing some rules of the road.

Bitnar ask that if they spot a bird they must stop and photograph or observe, to please pull off the road first, close their vehicle doors and turn on the hazard flashers.

He says leaving vehicles parked in the middle of the road “occurs all the time, often times on curves, where traffic has to completely stop because of the vehicles and people standing in the roadway.”