MORE than half a million people are expected to be watching their garden birds at the weekend, for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.

The weather plays an important role in the number of birds in gardens each winter and experts are interested to see if the helter-skelter conditions around the UK so far this year mean birds seem scarce, or they appear in their droves.

And this year, for the first time, participants are being asked to log some of the other wildlife they see in their gardens too.

The RSPB also wants to know whether people ever see deer, squirrels, badgers, hedgehogs, frogs and toads in their gardens.

Martin Harper, RSPB conservation director says: 'The key thing for the RSPB is that even if you feel you don't have as many birds in your garden compared to normal, we still desperately need your results. We will be able to compare results to other mild winter years and compare regional trends, so if you don't see many birds, we still need to know, it's really useful information.'

To take part, people are asked to spend just one hour at any time of the Big Garden Birdwatch weekend noting the highest number of each bird species seen in their gardens or local outside space at any one time. They then have three weeks to submit their results to the RSPB, at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch">www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch or in the post.

Participants don't have to actually count the other species like hedgehogs and frogs during the birdwatch hour; just tell the RSPB whether they have ever seen them in their gardens, at any time of year.

Schools can also get involved in the Big Schools' Birdwatch. This year's event will take place from January 20 to February 14, and schools can pick any hour within these four weeks to join in. Find out more at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch">www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch