Two23
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I totally agree with the idea of buying 300mm f4 + TC-14E. You honestly don't have the lenses for wildlife now, and that's the priority. Lenses are almost always the priority. Your little 190 tripod is OK for the lenses you currently have, but will not do the job with a heavier 300mm f4. You're almost certainly using a cheap head on the tripod, too. Save yourself a TON of frustration and buy a used tripod, one that can hold at least 10-12 pound load. The important thing is the tripod head. Buy one that takes Arca-Swiss style quick release, as those are the standard. Yes, the QR plates are worth $40 each. Look at the quality ballheads from Markins, Really Right Stuff, AcraTech, Kirk. Yes, these will cost a few hundred dollars. Yes, you will be thinking, "What good will a ballhead do?" My answer is that if you use one of these for just one hour, you will keep it for the rest of your life and never be without it. For wildlife, it's the single most crucial piece of gear. At least, if you want photos that are sharp. Tripod, you could get by with a used Bogen 3021, although they are heavy. A 3011 might work. Maybe. A carbon fiber would be lighter and more resistant to vibrations. Brands to look at are Velbon, Bogen, Slik, maybe a few others. Consider this: I'm a very cheap Midwestern guy who will spend months thinking purchases over. My tripod/head (Gitzo 1325/AcraTech Ultimate ballhead) are maybe worth more than my camera (D300.) If you start to really get into wildlife photography, you WILL end up with a decent tripod/ballhead. Save yourself aggravation and money and just buy a decent one to start with.
Second thing of importance is your lens. The Nikon 300mm f4 is an AFS lens and will certainly work on your D60. The lens is excellent. Many pro's carry & use it. Add a TC-14E (plentiful on eBay) and you have some serious glass. You will be stunned at just how big an improvement in image quality you will get just from this.
Third thing of importance is camera body. Yes, it is last. I would just keep using the D60 for now. You wonder about camera durability? Consider this. A D60 body costs $585 new, probably under $500 used. You could just throw it away and buy another one and have spent less money than a new D300. At one time I was more into wildlife photos (after all, I live in South Dakota.) I had professional tripod with Wimberly sidekick, Nikon 500mm f4 AFS lens, and used a Nikon N80 camera on it. Cheap film camera, cost about $200. Excellent image quality from that combo. If you still have money leftover from buying quality ballhead, decent tripod, and the 300mm/TC-14E, then buy a D200. Does everything the D300 does except one stop less high ISO. Remember, just a few years ago the D200 was the "hot" camera everyone had to have, and it was $1,500. Buy a used one from eBay, KEH, and spend the $900 you saved on a tripod/head. Ten years from now you'll still have the tripod and it will likely still be worth about what you paid for it. Ten years from now the camera will be worth twenty bucks and be buried in a closet somewhere.
I really agree with Dionysis, above. He sounds like he's been all through this before, too. When you put big $$ into camera bodies and then skimp on tripods, lenses, you end up having to later buy a tripod that's actually solid enough for big lenses, and you end up having to sell the cheaper lens and buy a quality one too. This will all end up costing you more in the long run. All the while, the value of the "hot" camera you put your money into is dropping like a rock.
Kent in SD
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