I could be wrong, but I believe that the bird is a Northern Goshawk. I primarily use two lenses for wildlife with a Canon 40D: EF 200mm f/2.8L USM, and EF 400mm f/5.6L. For the photo above I used the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM (no IS). Since there is plenty of daylight in Alaska (during the summer, of course), the 400 prime does well for me. For example, it was around 7:30PM when I took the photos of the hawk. While IS would be the best, I take my chances with non-IS lenses and save a lot of cash. Canon primes offer outstanding IQ, even the ones without IS.
-The camera was set to Av (aperture priority)
-f/5.6
-160 ISO
-Shutter: 1/1000 sec.
-Ai-Servo
-Burst mode
I use the 200 prime for shots of ducks nearby (at parks, etc.), for large game such as moose and caribou within perhaps 150 yards, and even for close-ups of flowers or large insects with the aid of a Kenko tube.
Depending on the moment while taking photos of this and other hawks, a 70-200 f/4L would have been perfect. Sometimes the 200 and the 400 are too long, while some other times they are perfect. Hawks in this area get as close as 20 feet from me, making the 200 and 400 too long
But keep in mind that this hawk is hunting, specially when I move around and scare small birds and rodents out of hiding. In this case the hawk gets real close, but most times (in other situations) it's too far for even the 400.