Bert, as you know, you can’t have too much reach for those little flying critters. So either a crop sensor or high megapixel full frame. Thus D500 or D850. I have both and each has some advantages.
The D500 shoots faster if you are into birds-in-flight - 10fps vs 7fps. In side by side testing, I have found the D500 to focus a little faster. They both have the same focus electronics but the focus points on the D500 cover a higher percent of the frame. The difference was noticeable on hummingbirds.

However, the D850 is a magical camera. Even though they have almost the same pixel size, the D850 handles noise much better. It’s always a battle between shutter speed and ISO for bird photography so how they handle noise at high ISO’s is important.

Yes, they aren’t cheap, Roadchuck, but they are very fast and very well built. UHS-2 SD cards are about 30% slower and not much cheaper. But my major complaint with UHS-2 cards is that they are so fragile. To get their speed they added a second row of pins. Now the plastic divider between the pins is so narrow I’ve had two SD cards break in that area. I prefer to buy the better quality just one time.

Also, Nikon only uses XQD in their best cameras and where speed needs are highest. I can’t imagine someone who can buy the best bodies and lens who can’t pay $30 more for a memory card. You can’t feed a family at McDonalds for that, lol.

I'm impressed with all the smoking knowledge on here. My mouth is watering. But I think I've read that brisket is usually handled differently than just smoking a pork loin for example. Don't you take brisket to a higher temp to melt all the fat inside? Just wondering.

No - Lexar stopped. Sonys are great quality, just their prices have gone up perhaps due to lack of competition. Nikon has an update coming that will let the same slot use CF Express. They will soon be available and will be faster and hopefully cheaper.

It may be illegal to hunt crows near their roost. They are definitely not federally protected. Here in Illinois the hunting season runs from October through February with no daily limit.

Become better organized on my trip planning and plan further ahead.

Im sure your photographer guide will give you much more advise specific to his safari. Ours, for example had special rests and bean bags so we didnt need to bring our own. Start a dialog with him now.
I would suggest you consider a longer lens that will work on either camera. We had two people who's main cameras went down.

Wow, Duane, I think it was fate that you rescued that D800 and put it to such great use. All are great but as a farmer I really really like your last photo.

Well done Larry. I like the dark, moody feeling of the darker version but I like the more three-dimensional feeling of your second image. I don’t like the too-bright bottom reflection tho. First, it doesn’t match the dark clouds that it reflects. And it draws my eye away from the main subject. It would be interesting to see what you could do to it with the brush tool.

Your first try is quite impressive tho.

Edit to add: The gurus here on ETTR would say to do just the opposite of stopping down 2/3s in the camera. I think they would suggest just the opposite - overexpose your raw file almost to the point of blinkies. Then in Lightroom bring it down to the mood you want. End result in theory gives more dynamic range and better contrasts.

Not arguing here. A serious question: Can you provide a link to their proposed plan?

Cookie, you are thinking of a neutral density filter. They simply reduce the light coming in but not the white balance. Different "darknesses" can be bought and are rated by how many stops of light they reduce. (Remember f stops are not a linear scale.)

Dave didnt mention using one here, but if he wanted to make the water smoother yet it would let him use a slower shutter speed. One advantage is a neutral density filter lets you avoid very high apertures such as f16 or higher which can blur the fine details of your photo.

HSUS has been taken over by radical animal rights folks. Bunch of nuts.

Condensation is caused when warm air is cooled against the camera or lens which makes it release some of its moisture. So if you put your camera and lenses in ziplock bags while still out in the cold, you have them sealed up with already dry air so it won’t condense. After all have warmed up you can open them up or leave them in the bags.
Conversely condensation can be a bigger problem in warm climates. For example, on cruises in Panama and the Galapagos we had to be careful about our equipment when going from our air-conditioned, low humidity rooms out into steamy hot environment. Our cameras didn’t have time to warm up before we needed to use them. Lowering the thermostat in our room helped. But I got condensation in my “supposedly” weather sealed 70-200 lens. It cost $600 to repair it.

Merry Christmas Bob.

I would crop out most of the rocks up to the shoreline on the right corner. Maybe include more sky if there is any in the original. These suggestions assume the mountains are your main subject.