Hi Andrew
All really good recommendations - but everyone has their own reasons for recommending them not least, budget, feel, 'value' what they've been recommended, what their 'role models' use etc....much better is too understand more about what you are buying... here is a good guide
http://www.green-witch.com/acatalog/Advice_on_Choosing_the_Right_Binoculars_for_You.html (I have nothing to do with them but have bbought some bits from them and they are excellent guys to deal with and will give really good advice within budgets..)
An example is that a great pair of binoc (1k+) may apparently be out performed by a mid range set with the correct dimensions for what you are doing.. see exit pupil etc.. the max pupil size in humans is about 6mm at dawn/dusk so anything that has an exit pupil around this size will give max transmission - hence a pair of 8x50 will appear brighter at dawn and dusk than a pair of 10x50 of the same make quality etc.... but its all a balancing act
Me Ive got Leica 10x50s as I will suffer a bit of last light deteriation for the extra mags - but then Ive got reasnoably steady habnds (higher mag means more shake) - but there are many excellent mid range that will be almost as good..
One thing to bear in mind is your binos will be used probably more than any other piece of kit and whislt a good scope will make sure you hit something if you havent seen it to start with it wont make a bean of difference
The other thing to remember is too spend a bit more than you can afford and buy once - if you can and consider secondhand - most people dont use them as much as you think.
The differnce between the costs varies enormously as you go up the scale but also the performance is not linear.. for example if you assume 100% is absolute brilliance in every aspect cheap binos (in general less than 100) might perform at 50-60% mid range vary from 60-95% and then the top (1k+ and 750 more than mid range) might go to 99.9% so you can spend a lot going from 95 to 99% and under field conditions not really notice the difference
Lecture over and if you want some advice drop me a PM