ALTHOUGH THE IVORY GULLS HAD DEPARTED THE AREA Rocket and I still had an enjoyable morning hanging around in North Northumberland in the hope that they might return, with around 20 Purple Sandpipers at Stag Rocks, Bamburgh and nine Pale-bellied Brent Geese feeding on the shore in front of Monk's House the highlights. A Long-tailed Duck flew south offshore along with several Red-throated Divers and some hundreds of scoters were in three distant rafts on Skate Road. A Common Stonechat in the dunes by Monk's House and a Peregrine hunting starlings south of Beadnell on the way back south livened up the day. Even Serenity searched the Farne Islands in the hope of relocating the gulls to no avail, however, the mild 11 degrees Celsius probably did not help. Despite the disappointment it is always special to return to one of the most scenic corners of England and a place where I used to go for picnics and play on the beach as a child. I am hoping that we will have another chance of ivory this winter!