Failed Peregrine prey snatch

The image above was taken as a female Peregrine fails by a few centimetres to snatch prey from the talons of her smaller male Mate,   Its the males job to supply the female with prey during the lead up to nesting to show that he is capable of supporting his future family,  The fact is that on this occasion he had supplied her with a good sized prey just half an hour earlier and she had not even finished eating it when he returned with more prey intended for himself.

The rest of this story is well illustrated with the images and captions posted below:

                                           The Male returns to a favoured perch point with his latest prey.

                                        As soon as he settles on the ledge he can see trouble coming his way.

                                                His female mate is intent on snatching the prey from him.

                                            She is a third bigger than him and would have no trouble doing so

                                                           To retain the prey he has to escape her talons

                                                    And he does so with only a few centimetres to spare.

                 
The look on the females face suggests that she is not best pleased but the male has to have his share of the prey if he is to support them though the oncoming breeding season,   A few minutes later the female returned to the half eaten prey that the male had supplied earlier and with both of them feeding, peace returned to the south coast for a while !!