Sands of Forvie National Nature Reserve

The stark beauty of empty sand dunes is complemented by the call of eider ducks, wafting like gentle gossiping across the Ythan estuary. With the constant shifting of the dunes, layers of history have come and gone, revealing the half buried remains of a twelfth century church. Bird life is plentiful and you can watch the summer acrobatics of diving terns or the determined stabbing of the carrot-coloured beaks of wading oystercatchers.