A museum renowned for looking after swifts has been named as one of the most popular free visitor attractions in the UK.
Oxford University's Museum of Natural History has been included in a top 10 list for free activities.
The list has been compiled by Go Outdoors, the company selling outdoor clothing and camping equipment.
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The Go Outdoors team used various data sources, such as social media hashtags, visitor attendance records and popular search terms to compile a top 10 of the most popular cost-effective activities to try out this year.
Windsor Great Park and London's Science Museum topped the list for the Most Poplar Free Attractions in the UK, and Oxford's Museum of Natural History came 10th.
The Museum of Natural History building also houses the Pitt Rivers Museum.
Each spring, swifts return to the UK after their long migration from Africa. For years, the museum tower has been a favourite nesting site, and the museum's live camera reveals the nesting birds inside from May-August.
The swifts’ nest boxes are well hidden and accessing them involves a cramped climb to the very top of the tower.
But the museum's webcam reveals this hidden space, showing chicks growing each summer.
Cameras have been installed in two of the nest boxes, and the images are streamed online from May to early September.
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The museum website states: "The colony of swifts here has been the subject of a research study since May 1947, when Elizabeth Lack and David Lack installed nest boxes in the tower.
"It is one of the longest continuous studies of a single bird species in the world, and has contributed much to our knowledge of the swift.
"In 1956, Swifts in a Tower was published, detailing the Lacks’ work on the colony. In 2018, the book was re-published, offering a fascinating insight into the swifts which continue to nest in the tower.
"The Oxford Swift City project launched by the RSPB in 2017 aims to improve the conservation of swifts in Oxford by raising local awareness."
Last year Oxfordshire nature writer Hannah Bourne-Taylor celebrated when 100,000 people signed her petition calling for 'swift brick' nest spaces to be mandatory in new housing developments.
The museum is open Monday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm, with last admission at 4.45pm.
The pandemic forced the closure of 67 Go Outdoors stores across the country and Oxford's branch closed in December.
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