It was a very small (maybe 12" tall) Cooper's Hawk. It was stalking a flock of little chirpy birds who make the rounds of my yard in the late afternoon. The bird hunter was so focused it didn't care that I stepped outside to take photos of it just 20' away.
Lacking a larger format camera, my photos don't compare to the awesome Cooper's Hawk photos shot a few months ago by Jonathan Vandiveer. Cooper's Hawks are one of my White Whales; they always seem to show up when I don't have a camera in hand.
Cooper's Hawks get special consideration during environmental review under CEQA for development projects.
