Exactly where from the valve cover? Is the engine blowing oil into the airfilter? Could be some oil, sweating from the gasket, could be some oil vapour, could be some blowby, could be some condense evaourating.
Sounds a bit like blowby. These closed cooling system engines have been overheated in many cases, which causes the piston rings tro get stuck a bit. No need to panic, they can get rather old with it.