Robert Dickens

Mr Dickens, who has died aged 91, was an inspired and inspiring naturalist who came to Yorkshire to teach and had a profound influence on nature conservation in the region.

Founder and former president of the Castleford and District Naturalists' Society, he was one of the founders of the Leeds Bird Watchers' Club, was instrumental in setting up Bradford Ornithological Group, the RSPb Blacktoft Sands Nature Reserve near Goole, and served as a vice-president of the Yorkshire Naturalists Union.

He was awarded the RSPB Silver Medal for Nature Conservation for alerting police to a hoard of rare birds' eggs he spotted in the rucksack of a fellow traveller on the ferry from the Shetlands to the mainland. After they were confiscated, he helped police to identify them.

Born in Stewkley, Bucks, the only child of a farm worker and sometime butcher, Bob's love of birds, animals and plants developed in the countryside surrounding his home.

From the village school, he went to the local grammar school where he played rugby union as full back until he broke his collar bone. He went on to Goldsmith's College, London, and his first teaching post was in Guildford.

At the outbreak of war, the man who could not kill an animal, let alone a human being, became a conscientious objector, working when he was not at school in the local ambulance service.

His next teaching job was at Bronte House School, Leeds, and he then joined the staff at what was Crewe Road Secondary Modern School in Castleford and is now Airedale High, his subjects maths and rural studies. Such was his enthusiasm for Rural Studies, however, that he was allowed to drop his maths classes and focus entirely on the subject he loved. His physical presence did not distinguish him in any way, but his passion for nature did, and it was contagious.

Unlike many of his staff-room colleagues, he encouraged a relaxed, informal atmosphere, making friendships in the classroom which lasted the rest of his life. He introduced his pupils to a world of wonders populated by butterflies, moths, birds, mammals and wild flowers which, but for him, many might never have been conscious of.

He kept the school greenhouse which he stocked with exotic plants and persuaded the head teacher to provide an enclosure for chickens and Canada geese.

In the late 50s, mining subsidence caused ponds and lakes to appear on Fairburn Ings beside the River Aire opposite Castleford.

They soon attracted waterfowl and waders, and with fellow enthusiast Douglas Pickup, Mr Dickens persuaded the West Riding County Council and the National Coal Board, which together had responsibility for the area, to designate it a nature reserve. That done, it was looked after by volunteer wardens until the RSPB took over its management in 1976. In the late 60s and early 70s, he was the RSPB Area Representative.

Mr Dickens took early retirement to look after his elderly mother in Stewkley, returning whenever he was able to Yorkshire which he loved and regarded as his real home.

His love of nature never dimmed, and following a stroke in 2005, he would tell the carers who came to look after him: "Don't worry about me, just make sure the garden birds are fed."

While still fit, he immersed himself in the life of the village, becoming a parish councillor, a school governor, and helping to get a conservation area defined. He was actively involved in the local bird club and the Beds, Bucks, Oxon Wildlife Trust, and he founded the Stewkley Rights of Way Association, dedicated to walking and keeping open local footpaths.

He baked cakes for friends and made jams for the village show, and having become a skilled photographer, gave illustrated nature talks.

If circumstances had allowed, he would undoubtedly have returned to the West Riding, but typically, this busy man made the most of the

community and area to which he had had to return.