Sentinels

It is now Day 14 of the Feeder Shutoff...and the Red Winged Blackbirds, stubbornly, cling to the area in hopes of free chow.  It's not only that I hear them in the neighborhood: they appear now to be swarming in the next cul de sac over.  But that there are sentinels posted to watch my feeders.  I regularly see individual birds lurking in the trees in the property.  So just how long will they watch and wait?  days?  surely not many weeks: they need to get serious about territories and nesting, none of which can be done in our immediate area.  But I will outlast them.  I can easily stretch this exercise into mid-March and later.  Only when the sentinels are finally gone can I return to normal.