Mystery Songbird Disease + Hotel Gun Scare + Swan’s Happy Ending

ACROSS AMERICA — Experts across much of the eastern United States have been puzzled after a high number of reports of sick or dying songbirds have come in since July 1 in Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states.

The disease has been reported in 11 species in Pennsylvania alone: blue jay, European starling, common grackle, American robin, northern cardinal, house finch, house sparrow, eastern bluebird, red-bellied woodpecker, Carolina chickadee and Carolina wren.

But the exact cause of the sicknesses and deaths remains unknown. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has released a list of what has been ruled out, however.

That list includes Salmonella, Chlamydia, West Nile virus and Trichomonas parasites. Read the story on Across Pennsylvania Patch

Guns, Ammo Found On 8th Floor

Law enforcement officials in Denver feared the worst Friday night when about 1,000 rounds of ammunition and several long guns were found in a room on the eighth floor of a hotel overlooking the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities. It turns out, according to police, that the items were part of a “drugs for guns” trade, and not a mass shooting plot.

Read more via Denver Patch

Fun Reads

Happy Swan Ending: A male mute swan that was set to be euthanized because federal authorities had deemed it aggressive has escaped the death sentence, purely by accident, via Brick, NJ, Patch

Don’t Mob The Suns: That’s the warning to Phoenix Suns basketball fans from Sky Harbor International Airport should the team bring home an NBA Championship from Milwaukee, via Phoenix Patch

Lightning Strikes Twice: A boat parade marked the Tampa Bay Lightning’s second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, via Tampa Patch

Capitol Fencing Comes Down: The fencing that was around the U.S. Capitol building for six months after the Jan. 6 insurrection has been taken down, with visitors now allowed to walk freely to the building, via Washington, DC, Patch

Let’s Go ‘Glamping’: “Glamping,” or “glorious camping,” means stepping out into the woods or camping by the beach doesn’t mean you need to rough it, via Hackettstown, NJ, Patch

All-Star Game Prep: Baseball’s biggest stars will be at Coors Field next week for the Midsummer Classic. Here’s what you need to know, via Denver Patch

Trending Across Patch

• Organ Donations Meant When Ricky Brock Died, Others Lived, via Across California Patch
• Robert E. Lee, Stonewell Jackson Statues Removed, via Fredricksburg, VA, Patch
• Mom In Amber Alert Found Dead, via Clark-Garwood, NJ, Patch
• Lifeguards Save Pastor After Heart Attack In Pool, via Bowie, MD, Patch
• Park Avenue To Go Car-Free Again As ‘Summer Streets’ Return, via Upper East Side, NY, Patch
• 11-Year-Old Saves Siblings From House Fire, via Douglasville, GA, Patch
• 6 Majestic Hiking Spots To Explore In Pennsylvania This Summer, via Norristown, PA, Patch
• Swelter Shatters Temperature Records Across California, via Los Angeles Patch

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