Something not working as expected? Here are solutions for common issues.
Analysis takes a long time
This is expected and by design. Kestrel does deep per-photo analysis — evaluating sharpness, detecting birds, segmenting masks, and classifying species. This takes a few seconds per photo, and may be longer for images with multiple bird subjects or very large file sizes.
How to handle:
- Set Kestrel running while you step away — check email, make coffee, or work on something else
- Run analysis overnight for large batches (hundreds or thousands of photos)
- Note: GPU acceleration is not yet supported, but is under investigation for future versions. All analysis currently runs on your CPU.
iCloud Photo Library: Photos not found
If photos stored in iCloud (not downloaded to your computer) appear missing or empty, this is because Kestrel analyzes files on disk — it can't access photos that only exist in the cloud.
Solution:
- On Mac: Open Photos app → Settings → iCloud → Check "Download Originals to this Mac"
- Wait for your library to fully download (this may take a while for large libraries)
- Once downloaded, point Kestrel at the Photos library folder
Images not found / folder appears empty
If Kestrel can't find your images:
Check these first:
- Are the actual image files in the folder? (Not just shortcuts or aliases)
- Is the folder path correct? (Try copying the folder path from your file explorer)
- Are the files in a supported format? (RAW, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.)
- Do you have permission to read files in that folder?
Kestrel can't find analyzed sub-folders
If you've analyzed photos in nested sub-folders and Kestrel isn't showing them in its folder tree, increase the tree scan depth.
How to fix:
- Open Kestrel Settings
- Find "Tree Scan Depth" (default is 3)
- Increase it to 4, 5, or 6 depending on how deeply nested your folders are
- Kestrel will now search deeper into your folder structure
Star ratings seem too strict or too lenient
Kestrel converts quality scores to star ratings based on a profile. If most of your photos are getting 2-3 stars when you expect higher ratings (or vice versa), you can adjust this.
How to fix:
- Open Kestrel Settings → "Star Rating Profile"
- Try "Lenient" or "Very Lenient" if ratings seem too harsh
- Try "Strict" or "Very Strict" if you want fewer high-rating photos
- Changes apply immediately without re-analysis
Birds not being detected (photos show as unrated)
If many of your photos aren't being analyzed because no bird was detected, try lowering the detection threshold.
How to fix:
- Open Kestrel Settings → "Analysis Settings"
- Find "Detection Confidence Threshold" (default 0.75)
- Lower it to 0.65 or 0.55 to detect more birds (though this may increase false positives — non-birds detected as birds)
- Important: Lowering this requires re-analysis of your photos
Inaccurate ratings on JPEG files
RAW files provide more data for analysis than JPEGs. If you're analyzing JPEGs, they may have already been sharpened by your camera, which can skew Kestrel's quality scores.
For better accuracy:
- Analyze your RAW files (.CR3, .NEF, .ARW, etc.) instead of JPEGs
- If you only have JPEGs, adjust your Rating Profile (see above) to account for this
Still not working?
Please use the feedback button in Kestrel. It's the fastest way to get help. When you submit feedback, include:
- What you tried to do
- What you expected to happen
- What actually happened instead
- File format (RAW? JPEG? Which camera?)
- How many photos you were analyzing
Feedback is actively read and reviewed. If you prefer, you can also contact me directly.
Your feedback improves Kestrel. Bug reports, questions, and feature ideas are all welcome. I read everything personally and respond to all messages.