Welcome to the group.
With respects to cameras, you are choosing all good models. My wife and I both have Nikon D7200's and I find it a reliable and quick camera. I run a Sigma 150-600 F5-6.3 Contemporary lens which is not bad (I sometimes wish I bought the sports model but sold a large lens because of weight issues) and Sara has a Nikon 200-500 f5.6 which in my opinion gives slightly crisper shots than my Sigma ut with a little less reach. I also run a Sigma 1.4x teleconverter but it really needs to be tripod mounted and a bright day to get good shots.
Don't worry about the quality of your shots up front. I don't think there is a photographer out there that doesn't cringe when they look back at their earlier work. Get out there and take some shots and spend a little time to review what was good and what was bad to improve.
Look forward to seeing some images on the website.

Hi Rodney it was toss up whether to go the 7200 and 80 - 400mm or the Canon 80D with 100-400mm. In the end it came down to price and the Canon just nudged the Nikon out. Now struggling with how to drive it and all the different settings. I'll be making a few trips to Fremantle in the next months as I understand silver gulls are good to practice on.
regards

I'm glad you were able to make a decision and purchase in the end. Any new gear can be daunting. I remember first getting my 80D (I also have the 100-400 MkII) and feeling perplexed as it was quite different to my old 700D. However, within a month or two of use, I was able to start pressing buttons and turning wheels to change settings without looking at them. Get in lots of practice and it will become less intimidating.

The other thing I always do with a new camera (or most other things) is look through the instruction manual from cover to cover to understand all the possible settings. I think the 80D still comes with a printed instruction manual. While some of it may not mean much at the time, I find that when I get stuck on something, I will have a feint memory from reading through the manual of the issue or topic in question, and then be able to go to it a lot more quickly. Good to re-read the manual some time after you have been using the camera for a bit as it will all make a lot more sense then. A day or two spent doing that is an excellent investment. Don't be tempted by the old adage 'when all else fails, read the instruction manual'.

Finally, as I have the same setup, should you have any questions, please feel free to ask here or via email.

Thanks Glenn. I'm trying to get into an 'understand your Canon' course this weekend. Hopefully they'll squeeze me in. Yep I've been buried in the manual and have been looking at ISO settings and different shutter and aperture settings. Bit different to my iphone! Thanks for the offer of advice I will no doubt take you up on that once I become more familiar with the camera and lens.
regards steve