Spring		Mammals: red squirrels, roe deer Birds: buzzards and bird song
Summer		Wild flowers: knapweed, devil’s-bit scabious Butterflies and moths: moths ringlet, meadow brown, peacock, painted lady, chimney sweeper
Autumn		Conservation: longhorn cattle grazing Mammals: foxes Birds: tawny owls General: cobwebs on gorse hedges and grasses
Winter		Birds: flocks of tits (blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit) Mammals: hazel nuts being nibbled by squirrels and small mammals
All year		General: A lovely peaceful wet mossland. Bucknills Field is the most part to look round. The rest of the mossland is very wet and wellington boots recommended.

Overview

Orton Moss is a former raised mire which has been greatly modified by human activities. The moss is divided into a large number of strips and fields which would traditionally have been used for peat cutting and grazing during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

To early naturalists it was a very important wildlife site, particularly noted for its butterflies. It was once the haunt of the rare wood white, now extinct in Cumbria, the large heath, a species of open raised mire habitats, and the marsh fritillary which was last recorded in 1980. Most of the fields have now been abandoned and this has led to an increase in woodland cover and these species have disappeared. Bucknill's Field is maintained as a species-rich grassland by annual mowing or grazing.

What to see

Devil's bit scabious, knapweed, meadowsweet and wild angelica are abundant in the wetter areas of the field. The woodland compartments contain small remnants of raised mire vegetation including Sphagnum moss and bog rosemary. Royal fern also occurs in two locations. The woodland is dominated by birch and Scots pine which has seeded naturally onto the former bog. Birds likely to be seen include willow tit, woodcock, great spotted woodpecker and willow warbler.
 
Recent History

Bucknill's Field was purchased in 1964 with money donated by Canon E J Bucknill. Two of the areas of woodland are leased from Natural England.

Orton Moss Nature Reserve was extended in 2009. The purchase of the additional land was made possible by a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund and donations from Cumbria Wildlife Trust members.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will also pay for work to improve the site for wildlife and make it more accessible to the genral public. Information about the nature reserve will be made available through interpretation boards on the site, a dedicated nature reserve leaflet, the Trust's nature reserve guide and Cumbrian Wildlife magazine. This section of the website will be updated as the project progresses. Look in our What's On section of this website to find out more about workparties and events at the reserve.