From the picture, I couldn't see any way that parking lot looks different from the millions of others out there. I was thinking maybe it was painted blue or something.
Go up in a plane on a Saturday and fly over your local metro. Heck, even look at Google maps and find parking lots.
At the right angle, the sun can glint off of blacktop much the same as still water. If the lot wasn’t striped or otherwise vacant, it’s no surprise that birds might have mistaken it for water.
The picture isn't representative of what it looked like when the incident occurred.
Another article I read earlier explains it better: The parking lot was covered in snow, it was night, and cloudy, and the city lights reflected off the clouds. The open ground looked like water to the birds.
It didn't just happen at Wal-Mart. The birds crash-landed on highways, football fields, and open fields all around the area.
The birds of Wal-Mart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People of Wal Mart are running out to parking lot now.
“Hurry up Cooter. They’s Christmas Goose dinners out thar!”
From the picture, it looks like the bird should have had no problem whatsoever with the parking lot.
On the other hand though, looking at the [EVIL RETAILER WALMART/s] roof, it looks like a VERY inviting pond with, albeit weirdly regular pattern, nice cozy inviting lily pads and the like...