Birder's 'Five-Minute Detour' to Check a Reservoir Becomes Seven-Hour Stakeout

Local birder Malcolm Scope told his family he was making 'a five-minute detour to check the reservoir' during a Sunday drive, and did not return to the car for seven hours. The detour, initiated at 11:15 AM when Scope spotted a 'promising-looking gull' from the road, was intended to be a brief scan of the water with binoculars from the car park. Instead, Scope walked to the reservoir edge, set up his telescope, and became progressively absorbed in what he describes as 'a developing situation with Caspian gulls.' 'I saw one probable Caspian on the water,' Scope explained. 'Then I thought I saw another. Then a large group came in from the east and I needed to check each one. You can't leave in the middle of a gull influx. That would be irresponsible.' Scope's wife, Sandra, reports that she waited in the car for approximately one hour before taking their two children to a nearby cafe. 'He said five minutes,' she said. 'I have been married to him for fifteen years. I know what five minutes means. But I didn't expect seven hours. Seven hours is new.' By 4 PM, Sandra had taken a taxi home with the children, leaving the car at the reservoir. Scope did not notice the car's occupants were missing until approximately 5:30 PM, when he returned to find it empty. 'I felt the cold wind on my face and I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast and my family was gone,' Scope said. 'But I had identified three probable Caspian gulls and one possible hybrid, so it wasn't a wasted afternoon.' Sandra has implemented a new policy requiring Scope to leave his car keys with her during any stops that he describes as 'five minutes.' 'If he's trapped at the reservoir with no car, he'll come home faster,' she reasoned. Scope has described the policy as 'understandable but ornithologically shortsighted.'