A very unusual, partially melanistic female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail nectars at a day lily at the New York Botanical Garden. July 18, 1993. Jamaica Bay is also one of the best places to consistently find southern strays such as Cloudless Sulphur, Fiery Skipper, Variegated Fritillary and Common Buckeye. These species share the coastal flyway with flocks of migratory birds and the flocks of migratory humans arriving and departing at nearby JFK Airport. It is abundant at Spring Creek in late July and early August.
Spring Creek is just north of the refuge.
Ask for directions at the Visitor's Center. Take the Q35 bus to the park. There are buddleia bushes and other cultivated flowers around the greenhouse. May. Common Checkered-Skippers, Checkered Whites and Pipevine Swallowtails are sometimes here in August and September. Black Swallowtails can be common along with Common Buckeyes and Red-banded Hairstreaks on the sumac blossoms.