At the end of last week on the 20th we had quite a large amount of rain, the first serious storm of the season and my records show that there is always quite a lot of rain at this time of the year.  The brook close to my home always floods for a day or so which makes life difficult for the Kingfishers in particular.  Even though I knew it would happen I was never the less disappointed because it meant that a couple of my recent projects had to be put on the back burner until the floods had subsided. I wasn't sure of the effect that this would have on the Stonechats but I imagined that they would need to move on to a drier area where they could continue to find food – insects on the wing.  So imagine my pleasure when I returned today to see if the water had receded and found that not only it had but the Stonechat pair were there as if nothing had happened.  The reed mace had been totally flattened which meant that they were using the tops of nettle stems and driftwood to hunt from.  It was really great to see them, it's obvious that I shouldn't have underestimated the resilience of this pair of Stonechats and probably Stonechats over-wintering everywhere. They have obviously evolved to take this sort of thing in their stride.  Using a bag hide to conceal myself and to reduce disturbance to zero. The female -above – was the first bird to give me a photo opportunity and the dead foliage, with the concrete behind made for good photographs. Then the male came in to the area following his mate and perched on a branch that had been washed down the brook and been stranded on the grass in the mud.  I have to say that I have a real soft spot for Stonechats whether breeding on the moors or here on the marshes for the winter, they are always a great bird to see. I am looking forward  to seeing how long they stay here in the territory, they have been here since at least September.