Pa during the first night after Ma's disappearing

In 2004 a pair of Peregrine Falcons was spotted near the communications tower in De Mortel, a unique discovery. The male was banded in Germany, the female had no bands at. As it became clear that the couple had chosen the tower as their home and territory, the Bird work-group Gemert decided to provide a safe place to nest. They put up a nest box on the top of the 130 meter hight tower. In March 2005 2 eggs were laid in the nest. Two healthy chicks grew up. Because of the unique nature of this event a webcam was placed in the nest box by Planet / KPN on the day the eyases were banded, so that everyone could enjoy the live streaming images of the events unfolding. The juveniles fledged safely and healthy at the end of May, early June.

Next spring Ma, the female, laid 4 eggs. Together with Pa, the male, who turned out to be a good caretaker, Ma started incubating. The public enjoyed the live images in the nest box and, later on, also images from an outside cam, where the juveniles were seen on  the ledge of the roof of the tower where they learned and perfected their skills under the watchful eyes of Ma and Pa.

Pa and Ma peregrine remained in their new territory and in the spring of 2007 the courtship began again. The pair already had gathered a large audience, both national and international. Everyone was looking forward to the new breeding season and the images were launched in March 2007. Ma laid 3 eggs this time.

But then a 3d Peregrine Falcon appeared. It forced the couple to defend the nest and the eggs. The "intruder" was not chased off, even after the eggs had hatched and Ma en Pa were busy with the three chicks. When the chicks were one week old it came to a fierce territorial fight between the stranger and Ma. Unfortunately Ma was not seen again.
The crushed public watched how her spot on the tower remained empty.

Pa bravely went on with the feeding of his three chicks. Unfortunately, one prey after another was grabbed by this new female. For her they were all courtship preys from Pa, especially for her. So there was very little food left for the chicks. The youngest chick did not get enough food and was starving. Meanwhile Pa was smart enough to develop strategies to still be able to feed his children. He delivered as often as possible  2 preys in rapid succession to the nest. He hid one on a secret spot, while he brought the other prey in the nesting box. And when the female disappeared with the prey Pa took his second prey and could feed his offspring undisturbed.

The young female, who was born and ringed in 2005, in Seraing (Belgium) with ring number S2, however, surprised everyone when on May 13, at Mother's Day, she took over the feeding. That same evening she caught her first prey especially for the chicks, a big pigeon. She arrived panting heavily by the load she had carried all the way up to the nest box.
That night the two chicks finally went to sleep with a full stomach and crop after feasting on the plentiful meal. A real treat for the viewers as well. From that day on S2 had permanently turned into feeding - and caring mode and a strong emaciated Pa could finally take a rest and leave the feeding to stepmom. The 2 chicks were given the names Hope and Faith. Because they clearly were behind in their growth and development, it was decided not to ring. Later they fledged healthy and strong.