Leighton Moss is an area of extensive reed beds and salt marshes near Morecambe in Lancashire. It is the largest remaining habitat of its type in the north west of England and the whole site is owned and managed by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).
I have some very fond memories of this Nature Reserve as a young Child, when my Parents used to bring me here en route to our holidays in the Lake District. This vast expanse of reed beds was always something magical to me, with its footpaths that cut between these reeds, which at over ten feet high must have appeared huge when I was so small.
In later life I have visited
similar habitats in Norfolk and Suffolk and especially around the Norfolk Broads but when I first started to come here this type of vegetation was unique to me. There is certainly nothing of this same scale near to where I live in South Yorkshire and indeed this is the most northerly area of extensive reeds in Europe.
Leighton Moss occupies an area of land on a peninsula between the Villages of Arnside and Silverdale, near Carnforth, approximately ten miles to the north of Morecambe and just to the south of where the Lake District National Park begins.
Leighton Moss is most famous for its Bird life and there are several species of Bird that breed here at their most northerly locations in Britain. These include Marsh Harrier, Bitterns and Bearded Tits.
The Bittern is perhaps the reserve’s most famous resident. This is a large brown bird that belongs to the Heron family. The male of this species emits a foghorn like booming noise to attract a female and with the right weather conditions this sound can travel for over five miles. There are around ten pairs of Bitterns that breed here which represents around half of the British breeding population (the remainder being in Norfolk and Suffolk). Despite its huge size this is a very secretive Bird that is seldom seen but if you visit Leighton Moss during the Springtime you cannot fail to miss the bizarre experience of the booming males.
In additional to the vast number of Birds that are attracted here this is also one of the best places that I know to watch Otters. These rare aquatic British Mammals are surprisingly common here and can often be seen swimming across the lagoons.
The footpaths through this reserve are of very good quality. In most places they are on top of raised wooden platforms that span the marshy ground below. These platforms have then been covered with small stones to make them suitable for wheelchairs.
Walking along the footpaths with the reeds towering above your head on either side it is more or less impossible to see any form of Wildlife at all, which can sometimes be quite frustrating. To overcome this problem there are wooden viewing hides located every hundred metres or so along the route. These wooden huts not only provide shelter if the weather is bad they also look out over open stretches of water and marsh where the Wildlife is a lot more visible. All of these hides are suitable for wheelchair access and have nice wide doors. Many of them are raised on stilts to enable better views.
There is a large car park located close to the entrance into the reserve and a visitor centre can also be found here, which is housed inside an old farm building. There is an admission charge for non-RSPB members to visit the reserve and a permit must be obtained from this visitor centre. Also located within the visitor centre is a Gift Shop a Tea Room and toilets that are equipped for disabled access.
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