The Watchful Johnny Rook

The Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford is famous for its history—spanning 9,000 years from the Stone Age to the Norman invasion, but for a photographer, the real treat often lies in the present moment.

The falconry centre sits at the top of the hill by the dominant round tower in a rather unattractive fortress-style building, but the birds are the attraction so it doesn’t really matter . This particular bird, the Striated Caracara (or “Johny Rook”) is fascinating; they are technically falcons but behave more like crows, with a curious and intelligent nature. I definitely felt the intelligence as I saw it looking at me!

Tip: When editing a bird like this in Snapseed, try using the Selective tool on the feathers. I increased the 'Structure' and slightly dropped the 'Brightness' just on the bird's body. This helps separate the texture of the plumage from the wooden background without making the whole image look "crunchy" or over-processed. It really helps those white streaks on the neck stand out.

AI disclosure: I used Gemini to remove the bars of the cage in front of the bird with this image.