Chiffchaff's and Rain

Oh come on! How much bloody rain can you get! Well the weather is as unpleasant as it gets. But still I want to go birding, after all my bins are waterproof, so is my kit, so what's stopping me?
Right at this moment it's the deluge that would get Noah running for his blinking ark! Ok so I need to waste a few mins while the rain tries to ease a little, wot to do? Well I could do some work around the hotel, or I could help my wife with some chores around the place. Bugger it, I'm out of here before the blooming cats want something as well.
Great outside at last, peeing with rain, but so what, I am a seasoned birder after all! I dont know about you but I find being out in the rain a rather pleasant experience! If you are well kitted out, have a nice packed lunch in your pack & you enjoy what you are about to do, magic.
The birding got off to a good start with my seasons first flock of Swifts travelling overhead, around 10-12 birds. I start going up my local track ( this is a very steep mountain track used by goats & sheep) I have not gone far when I get my first Spotted Flycatcher of the season, it's a male bird doing some fantastic Ariel manoeuvers to catch insects in the air, brill! 
After about 500mts I come to my first patch of conifer woods, it's small but this is my place to sit and watch Firecrests, also it's a good place for Woodpeckers, today is no exception. 
Within a couple of minutes I get a male Black Woodpecker, he's on the ground digging around the base of a tree, not the usual place to see this bird, I think it's not just me that's surprised as a couple of Robins come to have a butchers at what he's up to. 
All around me are bird songs, but one I love is the Chiffchaff, as I have mentioned before I love the common species, because they are always there and give you as sense of normality.
Anyway, there are no less than 3 males having a right old ding dong, for territory & for mates.......oh crap, now it's peeing down again, only this time it's take no prisoners time, really heavy guy's. But still the little Chiffchaffs are singing their hearts out!
Still the rain pelts down....opps! Do I feel a little trickle down my leg? Now I've either dribbled, as one gets older one does you know, or rain is getting in somewhere, I'd better check..........It's Ok! I have a small tear in my trouser leg. Phew that was scary, you never bloody know, it could have been a dribble!
You got to hand it to those Chiffchaffs, STILL, they carry on with their song. It must have been an hour since it rained like hell, but no, it's only been 15 mins. As soon as I decide to head back, yep! you guessed it, it stops raining. But the singing is still going strong. My love for this little bird is even more now. 
If they had been human and we were singing for our love, as soon as it started raining, we would have packed it all in cock. 
So I finish my birding after all, get back home to a nice cup of hot Yak pee, posing as herbal Tea, yer we've been down that road, sit at the window looking at the feeders in the garden and what do I get...another first of the season, a male Turtle Dove. This is a good sign, it's the bringer of good luck so they say! Whatever. It's been a good day's birding......but it's still bloody raining!!!


To-days list:
                 Black Woodpecker
                 Chiffchaff
                 Robin
                 Coal Tit
                 Marsh Tit
                 White Wagtail
                 Jay
                 Blackbird
                 Spotted Flycatcher
                 Black Redstart
                 Wren
                 Great Tit
                 Chaffinch
                 Swift
                 Cukcoo
                 Grey Wagtail
                 Magpie
                 Turtle Dove
                 Sombre Tit.