There is a long-established breeding population of Lazuli Buntings in
southwestern King County and adjacent Pierce County, centered in the
Muckleshoot Reservation and rural areas around Enumclaw and Buckley. They
thin out as you move northward (and disappear at the foot of the mountains
to the east): see Smith et al., Breeding Birds of Washington State (1997).
This species is sighted every year in the King County lowlands northward
all the way to the Snohomish County line, and may breed up that way once in
a while. A pair has been at Shoreview Park recently.

Hal Opperman
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At 9:11 AM -0700 06/14/99, Jim Elder wrote:
> I was surprised yesterday (Sunday) to find Lazuli Buntings in King
>County.
> I saw one singing male and heard at least one other singing simultaneously
>a couple hundred yards away across a field on the other side of the road.
> This was in South Kent along 78th Ave a bit north of 277th St S in the
>Green River Valley. This is privately owned agricultural land. The bird
>that I saw acted as if it was establishing or defending a territory as it
>flew from corner to corner of a weedy field and sang continuously for the
>half hour or so that I was there. I have never been in this area before
>and maybe I was just lucky to catch a couple stray birds passing through
>but perhaps there is a small, unknown (at least to me) breeding population
>in King County.