Kielder still wears its early spring colours—a wash of pale brown and damp earth, a stark contrast to the dark green of the spruce trees standing watch along the shore. But look closer, and you’ll see the quiet stirrings of the season. The first buds swell on the birch and rowan, their branches tipped with a delicate flush of green. Patches of gorse ignite with yellow, their coconut scent catching on the breeze. In the undergrowth, hidden among last autumn’s fallen leaves, flowers push through, tiny splashes of colour against the damp forest floor.