Thanks for the nice pictures.The white edged tertials and the lack of a coronal stripe means this can only one be Yellow browed(Ybr) or Hume's Yellow Browed Warbler . It's difficult to nail without a taped call/sonogram.
The main feature that goes against Hume's is the median covert bar, which is not usually so pronounced ( often absent or ill defined)
(or are these the only ones we are willing to stick our necks out for?) There is quite a range of variation though, and Hume's is not implausible.
Pro Hume's features include:The dark legs and bill,a grey tone on the crown, and it generally being a rather dingy coloured bird.Of course that doesn't rule out Ybr, which is still the most likely candidate.
I find most of the other quoted features really difficult to interpret/ very variable.I leave you to cast your vote on the following!
1.the supercilium is said to come more 'to a point' in Humes than in Ybr ( many of my Ybr pics seem to come to a point!)
2.In Humes the supercilium is fainter between the eye and the bill than in Ybr
3. Humes has dark grey ( instead of black) centres to the tertials, greater and median coverts.
4.Humes has less ear spotting than Ybr
5.Humes' underparts are less white than in most Ybr
6.Hume's bill is slightly shorter than Ybr
7.In Humes the dark area below the pale greater covert bar is less pronounced than in Ybr
If Yellow browed really doesn't seem right, I'd go with your hunch. The bird is likely to be wintering, so its not all over yet.Although, I suspect a sonogram or a hand job is probably your only chance of getting it past the rarities committee!
eric
