Colin Bateman promotes the Big Garden Birdwatch in Northern Ireland

"There's nothing wrong with standing behind your net curtains with a pair of binoculars, looking out of your window. It's a perfectly good way to spend an hour of your time."

Before you think this highly respected writer is suggested anything unsavoury, be assured that it is not. The neighbours are feathered ones and it is all part of this year's RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, the largest bird survey of its kind in the world.

"The Big Garden Birdwatch is something that everyone - myself included - can take part in," said Mr Bateman, writer of Divorcing Jack and hit TV series Murphy's Law. "I'm not what you would call a bird expert and the survey does not require you to be one. All you have to do is look out of your window or go to a nearby park, and record the birds you have seen for an hour. Send the results back to the RSPB, and Bob's your uncle."

The survey takes place on the weekend of the 30th and 31st January. Last year more than half a million people across the UK took part in the annual event, with 11,000 people watching their birds in Northern Ireland. The top bird last year here was the starling, followed by the house sparrow.