I have no problem whatsoever tracking flying birds with even a 20D, let alone my 50D, which has a much better autofocus system. If you think any camera available today will track every bird in every situation then you are living in cloud cuckoo land. In the old days we had manual focus, you had one focus point, and it was no problem, perhaps someone needs to work on their technique.
As for poor tracking of birds, of course the body is the driving force, but if you have the wrong lens, it isnt going to make things any easier. Even with 51 autofocus points you still have to lock on with the centre point first before the others will take over. Again, sounds like poor technique. Id like to see a body that can track every bird flying towards you, that has got to be the hardest scenario of all, and with a Snowy Owl, i am assuming on snow, with very little contrast, you are asking for trouble with any camera and lens combination. There is after all that little switch on the lens that i bet most people have never used, it says MF on it.
Please explain the purpose of tagging images with GPS data, as im a little confused as to the reason for it. I can understand when someone is in a different country every day, and can lose track of where they photographed some images, but for the average joe ? And would that person be using a D300 ? I think not.
If you do not want to have to work at producing good images then perhaps you have the wrong hobby. It it were really simple what would be the point ? I saw a great comment from someone in a post some time ago, it mentioned "credit card photographers", meaning people who buy expensive gear with a credit card, and expect it to do everything for them, with little idea of what is going on or how to use it, how true that statement is.
If you dont like the way canon do it, the answer is oh so simple, buy a Nikon that apparently can..........................ahhhhhhh, but that wouldnt work either, what would get the blame for poor photos ?
We have a saying in the UK, a poor workman always blames his tools, never a truer word.
Nikon v Canon comments always make me chuckle, its like saying which is best, a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, you wil never get agreement from owners. I happen to think my Landrover is far superior to both, id love to see a fancy sports car on the tracks i go down every day.