A WILDLIFE enthusiast who battled to save peregrine falcons in the Yorkshire Dales has died.

David Urwin worked for more than 20 years to protect the birds and encourage them to breed.

The respected wildlife expert, from Hawes, died from cancer last Friday.

His friend, Doug Simpson, of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, said his death was a great blow.

Mr Simpson said: "He will be very, very badly missed as he was so keen.

"No one else was as dedicated.

"We are going to need three people to deal with the amount of effort and work he put into this.

"Even when faced with people who didn't want the birds to be there, he kept his cool and composure.

"He was well-liked and wellknown in the area for all of the work he did.

"We would like to remember such a person by some means, but I'm not sure what that would be yet."

The work to protect the birds saw Mr Urwin trek out in all weather across the Dales.

"It was really a case of checking on the pairs of peregrines and watching them to make sure things were okay," said Mr Simpson.

"The birds are in pretty remote places and he was out most days of the year to check on them.

"And he was even training to be able to ring the birds, such was his love of them."

Mr Urwin was born in South Shields in 1939, where he lived until he was 15.

Leaving school, he found work on various farms in the area and married Sheila in 1969.

He left farming 20 years ago and found work at the Wensleydale Dairy, at Hawes.

He retired from the dairy in 2005, giving him more time to spend on the falcons.

His son, also David, said: "Peregrine falcons were his main hobby and his interest was always growing.

"The subject was close to his heart and he used to go out to sites round Hawes to view them."

Mr Urwin leaves a wife, three sons and two daughters.