Bird-watcher takes umbrage of park cop

As I write this on a beautiful Father's Day afternoon, I am just beginning to calm down from an incident that occurred just two hours ago. I live across the street from the Burnidge Forest Preserve in Gilberts.

Almost on a daily basis, I take a detour through the forest preserve to see what birds and animals are out in the open to see. I am a serious amateur bird photographer and this afternoon I was driving slowly through the forest preserve looking for interesting subjects.

I stopped the car to snap a few frames of a bird. A curious bicyclist stopped next to my car and inquired about my lens and camera. I began to tell him about it when a Kane County Forest Preserve police officer pulled up and said there was no parking allowed and to move. I looked at the cyclist and then to the officer and said OK, but I am just stopped (car was in drive) not parked, because this man was asking me about my lens. He said there is no parking and I was blocking the way. Fair enough. I then reiterated that I was just stopped, not parked like he thought.

My comment put him over the top because he didn't say move along, he said give me your license I told you three times to move and I am giving you a $50 ticket.

I was flabbergasted, considering I don't have any traffic violations or criminal convictions on my record. After a couple of minutes he returned my license and said the next time he sees me parked on a road in this forest preserve he will tow my car and have me arrested.

If stopping to take a photograph of a bird and chat with a friendly bicyclist is his idea of a brazen criminal act enough to warrant an arrest and towing of one's car, then perhaps we as taxpayers should review how much we spend on this department's budget each year because obviously there is way too much time being spent on things other than truly protecting our forest preserves from real criminal acts.

Bryan D. Hix

Gilberts