The middle of February.  Still winter.

So why during my walk this morning did White Rock Lake seem so empty, so devoid of this season’s normal inhabitants.

Too few waterfowl appeared as I strolled from Sunset Bay to Winfrey Point, back again, then to the Bathhouse Cultural Center before returning to Sunset Bay.

This area normally teems with life this time of year, from regulars like ring-billed gulls and mallard ducks to migratory visitors like snow geese and American white pelicans.

But this morning?

Few winter visitors could be found, and only the year-round residents were to be seen.

Climate change, in my opinion.

Our cold has been anything but this year, a tryst here and there with freezing, but mostly warmer than that, warmer than usual.

Have northern migrations begun early this year in light of the absent finger of frigid weather?  Did the lake empty so quickly because no one sees a reason to stay through such a temperate season?

I wonder.