Two Homes: Night Herons & the Colonial Long House

Name: Two Homes: Night Herons & the Colonial Long House
Start: 2026-06-27T08:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-06-27T12:30:00-04:00
Location: Thames Street Park

Schedule

Sat Jun 27 2026 at 08:00 am to 12:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Thames Street Park | Baltimore, MD

Wildlife and historic homes combine on this walking tour in Fell’s Point. We’ll start the morning with Baltimore birder Kevin Marshall on a journey to one of the city’s most unexpected wildlife intersections: the thriving black‑crowned night heron rookery tucked into the trees of Thames Street Park.
Kevin has spent two spring seasons documenting this unique opportunity, noting the herons’ return, their nesting behavior, and the daily drama of raising young above a busy waterfront. As of early May, the rookery includes 30 active nests across nine trees, with 24 currently on eggs. Let’s see what it’s like for these resilient birds to choose to return to this busy area year after year.
Next up on our itinerary is a quick walk to tour the historic Robert Long House, the oldest surviving residence in Baltimore’s original city limits. Long built his 28 x 28 square foot home in 1765 on land purchased from Edward Fell, who first established Fell’s Point in 1731. Two centuries later, in 1975, after years of neglect, The Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fells Point began restoration of the home and garden, showcasing the life of an ordinary merchant in the eighteenth century rather than the usual wealthy landowners and their upper-class culture of the time.