Orton Moss devil's-bit scabious, knapweed, meadowsweet and wild angelica are abundant. Small remnants of raised mire vegetation including sphagnum moss, bog rosemary and royal fern. Birds to be seen are willow tits, woodcock, great spotted woodpeckers and willow warblers. Orton Moss Orton Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located west of the city of Carlisle in northwest England. Orton Moss is a former raised mire and divided into strips and fields which would traditionally have been used for peat cutting and grazing. Formerly noted for its butterflies, it was once the homes of the wood white, ("Leptidea sinapis"), the large
Portlethen Moss saturated organic layers could actually rupture, spilling large volumes of mud and organic debris to surrounding fields, thus enabling a bed for further spatial expansion of the entire bog. Ultimately the colour of the moss waters became blood red in colour, from the successive organic decay and stagnation. Only in times associated with cattle grazing and significant human presence (probably the late Iron Age), would this process reverse and the bog reduce in size. A wide variety of sphagnum, sedges, rushes and other characteristic bog species inhabit Portlethen Moss. Sometimes insectivorous plants reside in mosses, since the soils are generally