Upset female Osprey

Pandion haliaetus

This image was taken in Florida, the month was March and the Ospreys were in mating/nesting season. I came across this female not long after she had made a catch and she was tearing into the fish. There was a male present and he would fly in front of her with dead branchesmaking sure she saw his contribution to the nest before he would place the branch on the nest. After he did that each time he would attempt to copulate with her.

This female appeared to want to eat the fish, not mate with him right then. When he flew in she raised her wings. They did mate at least twice while I photographed them and after each time she continued to eat. I like the behavior in this image, the male is just outside of the right side of the frame. I would have liked more eye contact from her but in this case I think her facial expression compensates for that. It was as interesting to watch their behavior as it was to photograph them.

D200, HH, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200, 0 EV comp, 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light, not baited. 49% of original frame. Tried to minimize the OOF dead branch at the lower left. Larger version provided.

As always, I sincerely appreciate yout comments and critiques. Thank you for looking.

PS: This is about the only time I feel comfortable saying "he" or "she" with Ospreys, during breeding season. Otherwise is is almpst impossible to guess the gender of this species.