We’ve had a couple of delicate frosts so far, but this morning it was 29º when I got up, and the frost was a bit more assertive.

The section of the Woodbury fields where the flock is grazing is full of sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), which tends to grow in wet areas.  The sensitivity in its name refers to an extreme intolerance to frost, the whole plant turning brown at the first hint of sub-freezing temperatures.  Large swaths of it had already died back, and the sheep have done their best to trample it in search of plants they’d prefer to eat.  The frosty ferns in the photo died about a week ago and have since been thoroughly flattened by the flock since they were growing next to a boulder the sheep found irresistible.