One of my favourite spots in the vibrant, concrete hulk of Barcelona is the area around the old Foixarda quarry on Montjüic. Much of Barcelona's Eixample was built from Montjüic stone, and it is claimed that the hill gave up 9% of its volume to the quarrymen over the centuries, until the activity was stopped in the 1950's. La Foixarda is the oldest quarry on the hill. Rock from here were used to build Santa Maria del Mar, the most beautiful of the city's three cathedrals. Today the quarry is split into three areas: the pantà (pond), the riding centre; and the rugby pitch and climbing area.

The Pantà de la Foixarda is probably the wildest corner in this part of Barcelona. There's been a heron resident here for the last year or so. By Barcelona standards it's great for a bit of minor bird watching. In addition to the city's usual suspects (sparrow, rock and collared doves, yellow-legged gull, monk parakeet, magpie, swallow, swift, horse martin, sparrow, blackbird) there are yellow and grey wagtail, great tit, black redstart, chiffchaff, greenfinch, blackcap, mallard, the occasional coot, the odd hoopoe above, Sardinian warblers. A heron has been resident here for the last year, and bee-eaters turn up in spring and late summer. Their song sometimes reminds me of a science fiction stun gun. I saw a kingfisher a couple of times in September, and most amazingly, a juvenile spoonbill decided to stop over here all through July. Check out the dozens of fat American terrapins (Yellow-belly sliders) resting on the banks and stones. Feral cats patrol its edges.

If you carry on with the mesh fence to you left, you'll come to the riding school. Make your way through (to the left across the second paddock is a statue of Babieca, El Cid's horse) and come out of the far gate, and turn left and down. This takes you along a short road down to the climbing area (rockdrome) and rugby pitch. With the rock faces and the black pine, if you squint with sunglasses on, you could almost imagine you were the Pyrenees for a minute or so. Barça played here for a while before they moved to Camp Nou, beating Spartak Prague 2-1 in the opening match in 1921. There you go.

How to get here. For example: Plaza España. Make you way up the escalators to the MNAC. Turn right, and cut diagonally across the esplanade. You can't miss it. Do not go down to the pond itself as you will disturb the birds. The view from above is fine.

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