Stealth Flyer of the Purple Sage

On our walk today, I spotted this Cooper's Hawk. King of the woodlands, it feeds on birds and small mammals. It hunts by stealth, approaching its prey through dense cover and then pouncing with a rapid, powerful flight. 
We watched it move from perch to perch in dense cover, listening and watching, then putting on a burst of speed and cruising low over the ground, approaching a ground squirrel from behind and taking it  by surprise. Brunch.