Looks like it was quite a site to watch and enjoy. Thanks for sharing the pleasure with your images!

I'd strongly suggest that you travel a little north and go to Estes Park and the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Bear Lake area on the eastern front offers a lot of beautiful views, wildlife, etc. The Timberline Trail road takes you through the park, over the continental divide and through the high country, etc.. Good breweries in Estes also!

Outstanding capture! I've seen a lot of "exciting" photos of Spoonbills but I think this is the best. Curious about the details of how you captured, cropped, and edited?
Thanks!

Here's a leucistic female red tailed hawk that was resident in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio several years ago. Reportedly had at least 1 hatch of "normal" offspring with a mate that had usual coloration...I saw them soaring together on several occasions. She's been gone for a couple of years now, but I think it's probably the most unique bird I ever expect to have the privilege of seeing. Lucky I had my camera on a few of those occasions.

I own this lens and use it regularly on my Canon 80D. It's a great travel and all around lens. It can't match fixed lenses at the lower end, or more substancial "steel and glass" at the more extended ranges, but it's relatively light, sharp and versatile for the price.

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel/Captiva Island (off Ft. Myers Beach in Gulf) is a wonderful place to shoot birds! Wildlife Drive takes you through some great wading birds; territory (herons, egrets, spoonbills, etc.) with good/varying angles and lighting, unobstructed views, etc.. Early morning with low tide is best. You can check out photo opps by going to the Ding Darling WLF Conservancy website and looking at previous years Annual Photography Contest. Enjoy!

We've also seen a return of both the otters and the eagles here in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio over recent years. They both generate a lot of excitement for locals, visitors and especially photographers when they make appearances. Coyotes and owls, occasional minks too. It's amazing how nature recovers when we create the opportunities. Thanks for sharing the pics and story!

The price point for this is still significantly above Tamron's competing options . Is anyone able to provide some understandable comparisons

I was at Ding Darling a couple of weeks ago and had phenomenal birding. Lots of spoonbills, various herons (little and great blue, tri-color, green, yellow crowned night), white pelicans, storks, egrets, etc.. Wildlife Drive is the main route through the refuge and offers many great and varied opportunities to photograph birds. Suggest you try to be there when it opens at 7am, or shortly thereafter, on a day when the tide is low in the morning. This brings most of the wading birds into the flats to feed. Like most popular areas to view/photo wildlife...follow the 8 mile drive until you see other cars stopped, then follow the many telephoto lenses that others who frequent there will be pointing in the right directions.

While you are in SW Florida you may also want to look into Corkscrew Swamp. It's an Audubon Society Refuge near Bonita Springs that frequently offers a lot of varied birds including barred owls, black crowned night herons, wood storks, painted buntings, etc..Check out their website.

Good Luck!

I'm shooting an 80D and have been using the Tamron 28-300 as my "walk around" for about a year now. Love it. I do a lot of wildlife photography and have the Canon 100-400 for that. I use the Tamron for everything else including a lot of travel. The ultra wide range, compact size, price and optics all make it a great choice. Good luck!