buzzard are also regularly seen, and in total 255 species of bird have been recorded at Forvie. Forvie is a popular site for viewing grey and common seals, which haul out onto beaches and mudflats at the mouth of the Ythan estuary. The Protection of Seals (Designated Sea Haul-out Sites) (Scotland) Order 2014 introduced additional protection for seals at 194 designated haul-out sites and in 2017 the seal haul-out site at Forvie National Nature reserve was granted this designation and legal protection. To avoid disturbance to the seals the advised viewpoint is established on the Newburgh beach. The population is growing rapidly with numbers anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 seals present. Bottlenose dolphins visit the seas off Forvie, and there is a population of otter on the River Ythan. Other mammals found at Forvie and those typical of northeast Scotland such roe deer, red foxes, badgers and stoats. History The coastline at Forvie has a long history of human occupation. The earliest evidence of human activity takes the form of flint working sites and shell middens, which date from around 8,000 years ago. Excavations have also revealed burial cairns from the Neolithic period (around 6,000 years ago), and kerb cairns (built to hold cremation remains) dating from the Bronze Age. Other Bronze Age objects found at Forvie include pieces of a quern-stone and fragments of pottery. The remains of a small village of 31 huts dating from around 700 BC have also been identified. Finds from the village include jet beads, bracelets, querns and pottery. The deserted village of Forvie lies within the sand dunes. Excavations of the village church, which is dedicated to Saint Adamnan, shown that it was constructed in the 12th-century, and the dating of burials within the church indicate that it had become a ruin by the 15th-century: local folk history tells of a nine-day storm that led to the village being engulfed by sand in August 1413. The parish of Forvie was annexed by the neighbouring parish of Slains in 1573. In 1959 the Sands of Forvie was declared a national nature reserve (NNR) by agreement between the Nature Conservancy Council (predecessor body of NatureScot) and the landowners; the NNR was extended in 1979 to include the Ythan Estuary. In 2003 were purchased from the landowners, with the remaining land being purchased in 2012. During the World Wars Forvie was active in World Wars I