A Palauan Photographer is Born

Oby Roland is the newest member of the Paddling Palau family and she seems to have a natural gift for photography.  While working as an assistant chef on a recent camping expedition, Oby picked up the guide's camera & telephoto lens and started snapping off a few frames.  Oby grew up with a slingshot in her hand, so "hunting" with the camera felt perfectly natural. 

​With her senses alert, Oby caught the sounds of a ruckus in the trees.  It turned out to be a group of Palauan Fruit Bats squabbling over some ripe wax apples (Eugenia javanica).  Oby took careful aim and snapped off a series of photos of the feasting flying foxes.

​High on her first photographic success, Oby wandered down the beach searching for her next photo-victim.  A gentle "tsweet, twseet, tweet" alerted her to the presence of a pair of endemic Palauan Flycatchers (Myiagra erythrops).  With wide bills surrounded by minute hairs, the flycatchers are superbly adapted to catch small flying insects on the wing (hawking) or from the foliage (gleaning).  Oby switched her camera to a high speed continuous setting so she could capture multiple images of the flycatchers, foraging in soft afternoon light.

​When Oby returned to camp to show off her first images, the expedition guests and staff were stunned.  Even the guide had never seen such perfect shots of the elusive flycatcher after 25 years of leading tours and photographing birds.  Beaming with pride, Oby disappeared back down the beach in search of more photographic treasure.  The entire team is looking forward to seeing what she'll capture next!