That elusive pimpernel

We see it here, we see it there.....I'd seen it yesterday - a little burnt orange dot down by the pond - and made a note to blip it. Alas I didn't go back until late afternoon to find that the Scarlet Pimpernel doesn't hang around. It shuts up shop before tea time. But today there was another so I homed in for a closer look.

With alternative names of shepherd’s sundial and shepherd’s weather-glass, it was once prized for its ability to indicate both the weather and the time of day. The tiny flowers, members of the primrose family, open around 8 am and close around 3 pm and they also close during damp weather (and sometimes when they're about to be photographed). So today it's going to be fine. Went back to check at 3.30 pm and, sure enough, it had closed for business.