[accordionboy]

Shot at Swan Lake Dec 24.. Not a white balance issue. I've never seen one like this.. It's very beautiful.. but what causes this to happen. I have 2 photos. One just of the male and then one of female with the male in the background with cream colour clearly evident

[jewill]

This is just a guess - could it be a younger bird that hasn’t fully molted his baby plumage? Or possibly caused by the low light we are experiencing now?
I looked back at some of my pictures and while most of the males were bright white, 1 taken on Feb 24 a few years back had the same cream colour to him.
Like I said, just guesses, so who knows - 1 of nature’s anomalies?
Nice pictures btw.

[indobirder]

I think most male Common Mergansers are "cream coloured," Just in some photos the white is overexposed or on a bright day it can look like it's white.

[airsearescueguy]

I photographed one a couple of days ago near Fanny Bay on Vancouver Island and it too looks more cream colored than I am used to seeing. I would be inclined to think they enter a different phase of plumage as many species do in winter. Cheers Bruce