Oh I also bought a used Manfrotto monopod for like $30 when I bought my Sigma 160-600mm. I had thought maybe I'd use them together to shoot my son playing lacrosse, but then covid hit and he hasn't played since I got that combo. But I did try it for birding and quickly realized that I'd want a gimbal head or similar for it because I could really only move laterally. I couldn't easily shoot birds in the trees and on the ground. I do think it would work okay at a sporting event where everything is relatively the same height and just moving side to side. But my cursory look at gimbal heads sent me back to just handholding the lens because gimbals are fairly expensive. I'm sure they are worth it, but I don't shoot birds enough to make it worthwhile, so hand holding it is.
