dave i tend to agree with your view point re-exposure ,but i think that canon have done something different with this sensor to get the full range out of it ,having used nikon in the past the one thing i have noticed is that with normal canon you need to ettr (expose to the right) and with nikon you tend to ettl (to the left) .
others as well have been noticing this camera tends to over expose and i have now started to dial in a 1/3rd or 2/3rd of minus exposure compensation to get it better for p/p its definitely working and has the added advantage of increasing shutter speed as well as enhancing the depth of blacks and detail in the whites . i have also noticed that even when doing b.i.f especially white birds i.e egrets,gulls,etc whereas with previous canons i would have to dial in massive positive exposure compensation to retain detail the 80d is pretty spot on at zero or perhaps just plus a third . to sum up theres definitely something different with this sensor but IMHO its very much for the better
p.s dave with the gull shot i would have cropped 16x9 and cut off the mess of traffic atop the bridge .and the not level water LOL