Warbler? Which one?

[Winter]

Apologies for the lousy photo - it was really hard to capture and gone in a flash among the leaves which it camouflaged well in (and I  used my iPhone to snap the back of the original camera screen). This little energetic beauty was seen yesterday, October 9, in Broadlands Wetlands Nature Preserve in Northern Virginia. To me, it looks most like a female Cape May warbler especially with the apparent white wingbar patch on the shoulder. That, or maybe a Black-Throated Green Warbler... Or something entirely different?? 

Thanks so much!

 

 

[IvoryBillHope]

Looks like a Cape May to me. 

[The Bird Nuts]

Yes, Cape May.

[Winter]

Thanks guys! So, out of curiosity, I imported the pic into Cornell’s Merlin app, and it’s telling me it’s a Blackburnian Warbler ...?!?  Looking at some pictures of Blackburnian male in fall/bland plumage or a female, I can see why but also a Cape May.

Question:  How are you able to tell that it’s Cape May and not a Blackburnian (in bland plumage or female) and which minute  differentiations are you seeing between the two (considering the low quality images I’ve posted)? I ask because I trust you guys more than I probably should trust an app and would love to hear insight. 

Thanks again 

[The Bird Nuts]

Dull Blackburnians have two thinner wingbars, gray cheek/auricular patches, sparser streaking on the flanks, and less yellow underneath and they lack the dark eyeline and the yellow rump.

[Winter]

Thanks so much for explaining this precisely. Really appreciate it. I’m in awe how you and others here are able to remember all these very important but otherwise tiny details about each particular one... Warblers and sparrows (and shorebirds) are soooo confusing for me!  Again, thanks for taking time out to answer my noob questions!