Your birds are lovely! Nice details on the feathers, I like how you caught the water droplets coming off of the loons wings. Like you I wasn't born into the right family either, I'd love to have a new DSLR camera but alas I unable to afford even an upgrade from my Canon Powershot.
Thanks, and I hear ya. As alluded to in another thread, the equipment I bought was only possible later in life when I started having a bit of spare $$$, and there was no lack of buyer's remorse when I got each item. Unlike some that get into this, however, I did not contract LBA ( Lens Buying Addiction ). I bought four basic lenses: Started with the 17-70; then got the 50-500 telephoto; then the 180 macro, and finally a 10-20 wide angle ... and that was it.
Back in the film days, I could never keep my interest as monkeying with film was too much of a hassle. Digital has changed all that and prices have come down a lot, accounting for inflation. In sorting through my pics for this post, I realized I rolled over the 4 digit counter on my K20 body. That means I've taken more than 10,000 shots with this thing ... so I guess the money spent wasn't just pure folly. :-) I do enjoy it.
As for your DSLR itch, just drop some dollars in a jar until you have enough and go for a standard bread and butter Canon or similar with a good kit lens. The higher end bodies don't really produce better pictures ... they just give you more gadgets and features. Where your investment really makes an impact is in the lenses. Of the four I listed, the only one that's really a semi-pro lens is the 180 macro. The others are good enough.
Next up: I'll sort through some sunset and sky shots.