The towering sand dunes of Forvie National Nature Reserve are a vivid reminder of the power of natural forces. Until the Middle Ages much of the ground here was farmed. However, advancing sands forced the community to retreat and leave the land they had struggled for centuries to tame.
Today, plants and animals are the residents of Forvie, but people come here for a different purpose. Here you can admire the haunting beauty of a truly wild landscape with a spectacular wealth of wildlife.
Huge spreads of sand were dumped by glaciers in the area, at the end of the last ice age, some 15,000 years ago. Through time sea levels fell and exposed the sand. Later, gusting coastal winds blew it inland, much as you see today on a smaller scale at low tide.
The earliest dunes formed in the south of Forvie 2000 years ago. Gradually, the sand moved north to reach Collieston by 1700. Eventually, it stabilised and is now one of the largest untouched dune systems in Britain. Wander in the southern dunes today and it’s easy to imagine yourself somewhere like the Sahara – just don’t expect many heat waves here!
The dune system you now see at Forvie acts as a blanket, covering an older landscape beneath shaped by our ancestors. People lived on Forvie from the earliest times because it provided many sources of food. The earliest evidence of settlement dates from 8000 years ago and consists of small fragments of flint scattered during tool-making.
Later evidence comes from the time when people began farming and burying their dead, about 5000 years ago.
Little circular foundations, most now buried by sand were part of this use. It combined with kerb cairns, which local people built about 3000 years ago, to cover their cremation burial sites. Three of these cairns lie on land that had previously been farmed.
Near the salmon fishing station at Rockend are the remains of a medieval settlement. You can still see the ruins of Forvie’s 12th century klrk, which was built on the site of a previous chapel that possibly dated back to the 8th century. The whole settlement had disappeared under sand by the 15th century.
According to local legend, the village was overwhelmed when three sisters placed a curse on it. They’re said to have been cast adrift in a leaky boat to deny them their inheritance. In a fit of rage, they screamed: “Let nocht bee funde in Furvye’s glebes / Bot thystl, bente and sande.” When the sisters eventually reached dry land the curse whipped up a storm that continued for nine days and nights. By the time it ended sand had buried the village.
One of the sounds commonly associated with the reserve is the owl-like ‘woo-ing’ of eider ducks. Forvie is home to the country’s largest population of breeding eiders, with some 5000 gathering in summer to nest among the heather or long grass. The females incubate the eggs in a nest lined with eider down – guaranteed to keep them warm!
The best place to see the birds is the lower Ythan estuary where you can watch them diving for mussels. They swallow the mussels whole and grind the shell down into small pieces. Only about 1000 eiders remain on the reserve year round, while the rest head south to overwinter on the Tay Estuary.
Visit the reserve any time of year and you’ll find plenty of interest. One of the best ways to see the site is to follow one of the three waymarked trails. SNH staff may be able to offer a guided visit if you’re coming as part of a group. You can find out more about the reserve by visiting the Stevenson Forvie Centre (open daily April – October – other times by arrangement), at the north of the site, which houses a display on the reserve.
Please remember that Forvie’s plants and animals are used to the harsh conditions here, but they can’t cope with the changes that people create. Give wildlife a fighting chance by making sure you don’t trample on plants or start fires. You should also note that the southern part of the site is closed to the public from April to August each year to protect the breeding terns.
Finally, dogs must be kept on leads while on the reserve all year round.
Forvie hosts a huge range of flowering plants. The sea cliffs between Rockend and Collieston dazzle with colour when pink flowered thrift, eas campion, kidney vetch and purple northern marsh-orchid come into bloom. The cliffs face east and have a top layer of red boulder clay, providing ideal conditions for plants like cowslips, primroses, the insect eating butterwort and delicate grass-of-Parnassus.
Visit Forvie in August and you’ll find a vast swathe of purple carpeting the dunes. This coastal heath is one of the finest of its kind in Britain. Look out for the bright green leaves of crowberry with its black berries and the grey-green lichens mottling the moor. The heath can look almost black when it’s not flowering and visitors sometimes think there’s been a huge fire. But look closely and you’ll find colourful plants on the moor, such as yellow tormentil and purple heath milkwort.
Forvie’s plants support a mass of insects, including butterflies and moths that depend on the plants for nectar and food for their caterpillars.
The green-veined white and the small heath are the commonest butterflies over of the reserve. You may also see the dark green fritillary in late summer feeding on thistles or basking in the sun. Look out for the day-flying six-spot burnet moths, with their striking black and red markings, on the cliff-top paths during early summer.
The estuary’s mud flats are home to a wealth of marine life – just one square metre can hold over 10,000 worms, shrimps and snails! These mini creatures provide a fast food outlet for birds, many of whom stop at Forvie to refuel on their long journeys south for winter or north for summer. Wintering wildlife also spend part of the year here, with more than 20,000 geese gathering near the estuary and feeding on neighbouring farmland.
Among Forvie’s special summer visitors are four species of tern – sandwich, common, arctic and little tern – that breed on the pebbles and small dunes in the south of the reserve. You can watch the rhythmic flight and spectacular diving of these elegant birds at the estuary. Listen out for the ‘splosh’ as they plunge-dive into the water to catch sand eels and other small fish. The arctic tern travels some 20,000 miles from the Antarctic to breed here – a long way for an unpredictable Scottish summer!
Forvie NNR lies 16 miles (26kms) north of Aberdeen, through Newburgh off the A975. Aberdeen-Peterhead (via Cruden Bay) buses stop by request at Collieston road end, and then it’s a 20 minute walk to the visitor centre. Alternatively, it’s a 15 minute walk from Newburgh to the Ythan Estuary.
Scotland’s natural heritage is a local, national and global asset. SNH promotes its care and improvement, its responsible enjoyment, its greater understanding and appreciation, and its sustainable use, now and for future generations.
Scottish Natural Heritage
Little Collieston Croft
Collieston
Aberdeenshire
AB41 8RU
Tel/Fax: 01358 751330