On Saturday, I was able to study the Red Crossbills more closely.  The flock made a circuit about every half hour that included trees in the upper lawn area of Shakespeare Garden and a small mud flat in the Upper Lobe.

The Crossbills had a wonderful way of extracting the seeds from the cones.  It was pluck a cone and then, work the cone from the bottom, extract one seed, husk the seed, spin the cone, and repeat until you need to fetch another cone.  It reminded me of how humans eat artichokes!