Dreaming of Shooting with the big boys

New friend on Facebook John Spohrer from Apalachicola, a master naturalist, daily posts really good close-ups of wildlife and plants, along with landscapes. When I asked him today what he used to get such close clarity in his night heron, he said he used the Canon 800f5.6 on the Canon EOS 1 DX, top of the line pro camera and lens combination. The lens goes for around 14K, the camera around 8K.
We can only dream. On reading about the EOS, it sounds grand. Totally weatherized, you can continue shooting in salt,mud and rain. The 800, while a monster, is fast and really brings in the wildlife from afar.
Some day I am going to dare ask these pro guys how they afford such equipment.
My pitiful D3100 with the old Nikon 180mm on TC-201 is a sad excuse for trying to capture clarity clearly.
But, it hasn't kept me from going out and using it and trying to get the best that I can from it.