Send Us Some Rain, Please

Lots of mudflats at Huntley Meadows this afternoon, as rainfall has been a bit absent. As I was on the boardwalk I heard a person remark that Huntley "was in the summer doldrums". Things I saw: Heard a crunching sound from the Cattails. Looked over and saw some moving vegetation, and then a Muskrat appeared, chopping down a Cattail. The stalk disappeared, and then the Muskrat appeared directly below me, probably only three feet away, dragging the Cattail off somewhere. This was the fourth one I'd seen today. There were turtles all over the place- Eastern Painted, big Snappers moving through some shallow water, a few Red-eared Sliders, and one tiny Snapper moving through some mud in search of something. Dragonflies were hawking about- Common Whitetail, Needhams, Blue Dasher, one huge unidentified one, and the first Great Blue Skimmer I've seen this year. Frogs all over the place- as there's so little water, the Leopard frogs really stand out- they're attractive in their green or brown phases. Several species of swallows- Rough-winged, Barn, and Tree. Four or five Great Egrets, and to top it all off, what I thought was a possible Anhinga, an extremely rare visitor (thanks to Kevin Munroe, who went out with a scope later and confirmed that it was actually an immature Double-crested Cormorant). These are the doldrums?