last unknowns from Yunnan, China (1 Viewer)

Hi all, here are the last of the mystery bird pics taken in Lijiang last week.

1- as I looked at this flight shot more, I wonder if its a finch... any firmer ideas?
2 - unfortunately most shots look like this one - a warbler... enough to tell if its a Pallas's or another species, or too hard to say from this evidence?
3, 4 (not same bird) - I wonder if these might be Little Herons. We saw a few Black-crowned Night Herons in the area, and I was surprised to see a group of about 7 grey backed birds fly out of the reeds en masse. I thought since there was no black on their backs they might be Little Herons - or are these pics just ordinary BNH?

(a few more on the next post)

These finches were seen in several places, so I'm not sure they're all the same. they also looked rather different from one another. I was impressed with the very large, very pale beaks. I'm not sure if they all appear to be Black-headed Green Finches or perhaps a type of siskin...

Thanks for your help!

1. Yellow rump looks like a Leaf Warbler. Presumably Pallas's/Lemon-rumped complex.
2. Don't think it's Pallas's but not sure what it is.
3,4. Black-crowned Night Heron, 2nd summer.

The finches are all Black-headed Greenfinches I think.

John, thanks for the word on the herons - I looked at the subadult pics on OBC and that seems like a good explanation. The finches were seen in several places, but once I started looking at them I couldn't figure out whether or not they represented different species - with a new bird it's tricky to figure out what is normal variation in plumage and of course there's all the variation in lighting as well.