lchunfai

Chun, do you have any recording? I think it is only safe to separate valentini and omeiensis by its call in field. You can compare the recording made by Geoff. (the one in Aberdeen called exactly the same with the one in Pak Sha O and it did response when playing the song)
Or you can take a look of the following:
Phylloscopus & Seicercus by Dr. Per Alström

lchunfai

If you think it is, then it is. ^^"

lchunfai

Confusion by angle, Too many variations and I am inexperienced, I would not say it is definitely not a Bianchi's because of lacking a wingbar.

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1

Similar case in Plain-tailed Warbler Seicercus soror , nearly invisible wingbar is one of the features, but I don't think I can safely identify by checking the presence of wingbar.

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1  (wingbar?)

http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... _ID=&pagesize=1  (no wingbar?)

Of Course, the above links may be incorrectly labelled.

It is not surprised to have more than one omeiensis this winter, as we may overlook this species over the years. Lastly, I wanna raise a question, can this bird be a plain-tailed? It doesn't have wingbar and the photos cannot show the forehead, tail, or other characteristic clearly and if it did not call at all.

lchunfai

Sometimes, it cannot tell whether the bird has a wingbar or not by just a brief view or a record photo.

Again, what do you think about these, the two are different individuals.