Blue, what Canon model do you have?
Imo, that 70-300 is overkill: heavy, big/long, and unless you are
trying to shoot the peregrine falcons along the Palisades, it
is an awfully long tele. I was just busting your butt on all those
semi-wide angle snaps you posted. A medium zoom tele that goes
out to ~135mm is probably what you need, at most.
GL,mD