Hummer backing up

The activity level is high in my yard, the old regime of Anna's hummers has been re-established after a one week rule of the Allen's (what was that about???).
There seems to be a lot of flirting going on, with teasing, chasing and just cozy sitting together. Interesting stuff!!! I don't know what it means, but suddenly I see the male hummer sitting with his beak open a lot (pics of that later). Is he winded? I wouldn't be surprised, he has to fight several challengers off while trying to keep the female happy.
Here is a pic of either the male or one of his challengers backing up during a fight (these fights are VIOLENT!!! ):

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Wow, Bea, excellent capture, I believe they are the only birds that can back up.

Wonderful shot Bea....theye are so difficult to capture well, and your examples are always excellent in every way. I'll look forward to seeing the rest of the series.

Impressive shot! These little buggers are hard to photograph!

Wow...amazing shot Bea. Simply stunning.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful action capture Bea.

Fascinating, Great and More...

Never seen anything like it...

Give us a clue...what lens did that for you?

A few times each year they fly by my deck looking for a feeder.
They fly right in front of my face and then back up, to continue on their way to a neighbors nectar tubes.

Paul A wrote in post #2031809
Wow, Bea, excellent capture, I believe they are the only birds that can back up.

Thank you, Paul! I believe you're right, they are the only birds that can fly backwards and even upside-down

sugarzebra wrote in post #2031816
Wonderful shot Bea....theye are so difficult to capture well, and your examples are always excellent in every way. I'll look forward to seeing the rest of the series.

Thanks for your kind words, Scott! I find it very difficult these days to get good shots, the hummers are either zooming at high speed or just sitting around. It gets difficult to get new, interesting pics

SoaringUSAEagle wrote in post #2031838
Impressive shot! These little buggers are hard to photograph!

Tell me about it, they almost knocked me over during their chases several times today, seriously!!! I'm just standing out there waiving my camera around like an idiot trying to follow them (useless, btw) and they don't even see me.
Thanks for commenting, Jeff

Sindri Skulason wrote in post #2031844
Wow...amazing shot Bea. Simply stunning.

Thank you, Sindri! I always appreciate your comments

Reyno wrote in post #2031856
Thanks for sharing your beautiful action capture Bea.

You're welcome, Reyno, and thank you!

johnstoy wrote in post #2031904
Fascinating, Great and More...

Never seen anything like it...

Give us a clue...what lens did that for you?

A few times each year they fly by my deck looking for a feeder.
They fly right in front of my face and then back up, to continue on their way to a neighbors nectar tubes.

Thanks, John! Sounds like you need to get yourself a feeder and join the fun!

I'm using the 70-200 f/4 for my hummingbird pics, sometimes in M but most of the time in Av.

Fantastic capture; great timing.
Detail; color; sharpness..wonderful

Thanks Ted, Im glad you like it

Here are 2 more from today. The first one shows the strange "panting" behavior, the second one the object of his affection:

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gorgeous shot

Nice ones!

Beautiful images here Bea. I like them all. Great action and colors, good light and detail and great subjects. I have observed many birds that go into a panting like pose with the beak open and I have only ever noticed this on very hot days. I am just guessing but probably a means to cool down and Hummers are propbably more prone to overheating considering their metabolism.

excellent series. gorgeous hummers