It is not often that you find a place where you can stand on top of a hill to watch a beautiful sunrise over the pacific and then come back to the very same spot about 12 hours later, face west and watch the sun set. The south tip of the Nicoya Peninsula is that special kind of place where you can watch the sunrise over the peaceful Tambor Bay then follow the Route of the Sun and watch it set over the waves in Manzanillo. Just look at a Costa Rican map; indeed, we believe this is the sexiest part of the country!

Well known for it´s beautiful coast lines, sandy beaches and magnificent rocky cliffs, the Nicoya Peninsula has held a secret for many years.  When a visitor comes to the area, they’re captivated by the beauty.  Drawing their attention is the ocean, surfing, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, sailing, horseback riding, laying on the beach, taking endless sunset or sunrise walks on the sand. Needless to say, visitors and locals are mesmerized by the beauty of our coast.

The peninsula has wonderful treasures hidden inland in an array of forests, hills and rivers. It is home to the most incredible wildlife including some of the most beautiful and unique birds in the country. Boasting unspoiled land, Nicoya is home to Costa Rica´s first National Park, the Absolute Natural Reserve of Cabo Blanco. Other wonderful Reserves such as Nicolass Wessberg, Romelia , Karen Morgensen, Curú, are also part of the country’s conservation effort.

We all recognized the enormous potential and beauty of this area´s biodiversity.  In our particular case, we fell in love with the birds and out of our passion, we created Tambor Bay Birders Association with the intention of sharing our experiences and research with fellow ornithologists and visitors.

 

Tambor Bay Birders conduct a yearly Christmas Bird Count averaging close to 200 species in the 24-hour period. We have performed several other bird counts, including Cabo Blanco, Curú, and other natural reserves and areas of interest for the Biological Corridor.

Tambor Bay Birders trademark count is our unique “Tambor Bay Valentine´s Count! For the love of birds!” which takes place always on the closest Saturday to Valentine´s Day. We have 10 routes that we cover: coast, mangroves, river, estuaries, jungle and hills up to an elevation of 1,500 feet.  We have seen species such as:

  • White hawk
  • King Vulture
  • Collared Forest Falcon
  • Northern Potoo
  • White Necked Puff Bird
  • Mangrove Humming bird (Endemic)
  • Western Tanager
  • Long-tailed Manakin
  • Pheasant Cuckoo

Although there are over 250 species recorded, we report new species to the area every year.  Part of the reason is that this Peninsula has not been traveled much by birders in the past until recently – when we started unveiling this secret.

Some of the new species we have recorded are:

  • Elegant Trogon, (commonly found in our area)
  • Blue Ground Dove
  • Rudy Quailed Dove
  • Black and White Owl
  • Grayish Saltator
  • Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner
  • Panama Flycatcher
  • Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush
  • Gray-headed Kite
  • Yellow-bellied Sap sucker
  • Cedar Waxwing

The biodiversity in this land is so great that our routes for bird counts are a wide variety of mangrove, coastal, gallery forests, lagoons, fields and mountain ranges, all within the 16 mile diameter by count standardized rules.

Some of these routes include

  • Tambor beach and Pánica River trail aka “the 100 species trail”
  • Biscoyol Waterfall trail
  • Los Delfines lagoons
  • Curú Wildlife Reserve Finca Los Monos
  • Curú Wildlife Reserve Quesera Beach trails
  • Raptor Ridge low lands
  • Raptor Ridge Mid mountain trail
  • Raptor Ridge High mountain trail
  • Vainilla Trail
  • Jesus Tree coastal trail

The Tambor Bay Birders have set goals to help protect our wildlife, promote birding tourism and educate our youth in birding and sustainability; therefore we have Tambor Bay Junior Birders, a group of children and teenagers that are included in all of our activities as a way to initiate these new generations; whom are already passionate about the piece of world they live in and it´s biodiversity.

We want to share this secret with the kind of people that would treasure it as much as we do! Tambor Tropical offers tours of a lifetime! Our Costa Rican birding tours can be custom made or done with a set group during one of our yearly adventures. For more information, contact us!