Northern Parulas - The first "summer warblers"

I love Friday mornings in Congaree National Park, a.k.a. CONG.  By the way, someone recently asked about my use of "CONG", the all caps being suggestive of an acronym.  This is the abbreviation used by the National Park Service (NPS) for Congaree and is often used as a nickname of sorts.  But whatever you call it, you have to admit, it has its own special kind of beauty:

I was hoping to see some Yellow-throated Warblers in the park this morning.  I didn't get very far up the creek (I was hiking off-trail) when I saw what I thought was my targeted species.  But, for some reason I grew suspicious of this conclusion and pulled out my trusty Peterson Guide. (Thanks, Mom!!) I quickly learned that I was actually watching were Northern Parula's---yeah, I'd never heard of them either. 

Wanting to see Yellow-throated Warblers was just how I manifested my desire to start seeing "summer birds", so I was just as happy with these little guys and gals (mostly gals).  Photos were tough because they were back-lit high in the trees most of the time, but I managed a few decent shots which I will now plop here with little elegance!  :-)