This weekend while house sitting out in Battle Ground, I observed a
rather plain looking bird in the feeder. At first I thought it was just
another house sparrow and didn't think anything of it. Later that same
evening I happened to glance out the window and there it was again;
however, after a couple of seconds another bird flew in. It was a male
Lazuli bunting. After looking in one of my bird books I found that the
plain looking bird I had seen was the female. I have seen the female
almost everyday for the last week. The area where I saw these birds was
about five miles outside of Battle Ground, Washington near Daybreak
Park. Another bird that I saw for the first time at this location was
a pair of black throated gray warblers. Unfortunately they ran into the
window and one of them died. I was also wondering if anybody else has
seen the buntings in Clark County yet and if so where. I am also
looking for good birding places in Clark County, if you know of any
I would appreciate any suggestions.


Chris Hyatt
Vancouver, WA
cmh at clark.edu