Heartbreaking: This Man Has Been Birdwatching For 30 Years But Has Only Seen A Chicken

Well, this is just about the most rotten luck fate could throw at a dedicated, veteran birdwatcher: This man has been birdwatching for 30 years but has only seen a chicken.

Good for him for not giving up on his beloved hobby…but dang. You have to feel for this guy.

When Roanoke, VA resident Ken Brindle, 66, first began birdwatching three decades ago, he thought he was off to a hot start after seeing a chicken the very same afternoon he bought a birdwatching journal. Devastatingly for Ken, his birdwatching career has not progressed whatsoever beyond logging that chicken, as he has not seen a single bird ever since, despite making birdwatching the basis of his entire personality and sinking thousands of dollars into high-end birding binoculars over the years. Whereas every other member of Ken’s local birding club has logged dozens, if not hundreds, of different bird species, the fact remains that while Ken has been birdwatching longer than all other members by a wide margin, his logbook is completely blank aside from the entry ‘Chicken, 1/10/1996’ on page one.

Ken has found himself on one of the worst, if not the worst, cold streaks in birding history. For 30 years, each and every time Ken thought he’d finally seen a second bird, it turned out to be a false alarm. Take his trip to Everglades National Park, one of the world’s best birdwatching locations, for example: After six hours of searching, Ken turned his binoculars on what he was initially convinced was a flamingo, but upon closer inspection turned out to be a waterlogged human corpse. 

Gosh. It just doesn’t get more heartbreaking than that.

Fortunately for Ken, he just retired at the end of last year, meaning he now has more time than ever to dedicate to birding, and hopefully seeing at least one other bird than a chicken. He’ll even get to do so with his eight-year-old granddaughter Julia, who was recently inspired by her grandfather to take up birdwatching, and logged over 10 different kinds of birds just last weekend. When Julia related this news to her grandfather over the phone, Ken reportedly hung up without responding and locked himself in his room, where he remains as of this article’s publication. 

What a tough break for a birder. 

Our heart goes out to Ken. What should’ve been a wholesome hobby has so far resulted in half a lifetime of disappointment. Keep your fingers that Ken sees another chicken at the very least, otherwise he can chalk up the 30 years he’s devoted to birdwatching as a massive, soul-crushing failure.